Scientists may have discovered a way to create a real-world tractor beam using electromagnetic radiation that attracts particles, and the result would look a lot like the tractor beams we see in sci-fi media. Star WarsWhat’s more, scientists say they may have found a way to make it even more portable.
paper Team findings Published in the journal ACS PhotonicsSure, a tractor beam sounds like something that could never exist in the real world, but the best practical use for such a thing would probably be in the medical industry.
That’s because a real-world tractor beam would make it much easier to extract specific materials from the body — currently, biopsies require needles large enough to extract a sample of cells, or more complicated procedures, either of which can cause damage to tissue.
But using a tractor beam designed to specifically target the cells doctors need could reduce the amount of incisions and scar tissue patients have to endure. But how exactly does this happen?
To create a real-life tractor beam, the scientists say they started with a triple helix solenoid beam, which is essentially three different beams or bundles of light twisted together so that they form something like a tunnel (or tube), generated by passing a regular beam of light through a specially created metasurface using very thin nanopatterned silicon on a small glass panel.
In their findings, the scientists explain that the beam attracts particles in a similar way to how a drill bit attracts sawdust. The three light beams envelop the particles. From there, the scientists improved the beam so that it could hold light energy, making it more portable and able to attract particles.
Of course, we’re still a long way from actually attracting anything much larger than normal particles. New blood test can detect more than 50 types of cancerAn actual tractor beam could also help make biopsies more efficient and less invasive.
