Tractor Beam facility of the USS Enterprise has saved the day for James Kirk and crew during their dangerous explorations to places in Universe “where no one has ever gone”.
Now that was just the science of ‘Star Trek’ until recently. But now scientists at NASA are working on a real life ‘tractor beam’ which could be used to haul object in space.
According to a report appeared in the Daily Mail, Physicists are on the verge proving that light beams can be used to “capture, hold, push and pull” objects over distances of up to 1 cm.
Image courtesy: New York University
It is also claimed that such tractor beams could be used to to move particles over several feet or even miles. Though the size of the objects which can be moved using the ‘tractor beams’ considerably very small, it is reported that the technology could be used to collect samples from space.
Reportedly, a team of scientists under the leadership of Dr David Grier, of New York University, has been putting in efforts at Nasa’s Goddard Space Centre in Maryland to develop long range tractor beams that can work over large distances.
Check this video by New York University titled “Straight Out of Star Trek: How an NYU Physicist Made the Tractor Beam a Reality”
“It is like science fiction being made real. A lot of people will be familiar with the idea that a wave can push. It is possible to structure a wave so that it doesn’t just push, but it can grab onto an object, hold onto it and even pull it,” Dr. Grier was quoted by Daily Mail.
Dr Grier and team had initially developed ‘Holographic Optical Tweezers’ which can move small objects. Later the team developed the equipment so that it can further pull and move objects.
According to Daily Mail, the instrument is put to work by “bouncing a laser off a projector to produce computer-generated holograms that resembles a spiral of intense light known as a solenoid beam.”
According to the scientists, it has uses on Earth as well. It could be used to to take samples of toxic fumes from a long distance and to examine the smoke from factories to examine if they contain particles of pollution.
Dr Grier will describe his technology in a documentary filmed by the Smithsonian to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek series (TOS).
