1. TRACTOR BEAM
Researchers recently created an acoustic hologram,
or a 3D sound field projected onto a 2D space,
which can be used as acoustic tweezers, cages and
twisters that manipulate objects as they levitate in
air.
CREDIT: Image courtesy of Asier Marzo, Bruce
Drinkwater and Sriram Subramanian.
It may seem straight out of “star Trek”, but it’s real:
Scientists have created a sonic “tractor beam“ that
can pull, push and pirouette objects that levitate in
thin air .The sonic tractor beam relies on a precisely
timed sequence of sound waves that create a region
of low pressure that traps tiny objects that can
then be manipulated solely by sound wave, the
scientists said in a new study .Though the new
demonstration was just a proof of concept, the
2. same technique could be adapted to remotely
manipulate cells inside the human body or target
the release of medicine locked in acoustically
activated drug capsule ,said study co-author Bruce
Drinkwater ,a mechanical engineer at the University
Of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Levitating objects in the past ,scientist have used
everything from laser beam to superconducting
magnetic field to levitate objects. And in 2014,
researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland
shoed that acoustic holograms that act like a tractor
beam could theoretically suck in objects.
They really just showed the force was there ;they
weren’t able to grab or pull anything “Drinkwater
said.
The principle behind the new system is simple
:Sound waves ,which are waves of high and low
pressure that travel through a medium such as air
,produce force.
3. “we have all experienced the force of sound – if
you go to a rock concert ,not only do you hear it,
but you can sometimes feel your innards being
moved,” Drinkwater told Live science “it’s a
question of harnessing that force.”By tightly
orchestrating the release of these sound waves, it
should be possible to create a region with low
pressure that effectively counteracts gravity, raping
an object in mikdair.
