Scientists Levitate Small Animals

LiveScience ^ | 29 Nov 2006 | Charles Q. Choi

[FLOutdoorsman]

Scientists have now levitated small live animals using sounds that are, well, uplifting.

In the past, researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, China, used ultrasound fields to successfully levitate globs of the heaviest solid and liquid—iridium and mercury, respectively. The aim of their work is to learn how to manufacture everything from pharmaceuticals to alloys without the aid of containers. At times compounds are too corrosive for containers to hold, or they react with containers in other undesirable ways.

"An interesting question is, 'What will happen if a living animal is put into the acoustic field?' Will it also be stably levitated?" researcher Wenjun Xie, a materials physicist at Northwestern Polytechnical University, told LiveScience.

Xie and his colleagues employed an ultrasound emitter and reflector that generated a sound pressure field between them. The emitter produced roughly 20-millimeter-wavelength sounds, meaning it could in theory levitate objects half that wavelength or less.

[FLOutdoorsman]

Nothing really new, Nasa has been doing this for years.

[edcoil]

Some say the Egyptians built the pyramids this way.

[ColdSteelTalon]

I can levitate many things. Ping pong balls, feathers, food and drinks to my moth when I need to... ;)

[ASOC]

At times compounds are too corrosive for containers to hold, or they react with containers in other undesirable ways.



So, these guys are working on Universal Solvent?

[frogjerk]

Anti gravity? Or reverse it and have artificial gravity?

[CholeraJoe]

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley learned to do this their first year at Hogwarts.

[taxed2death]

Coral Castle too, more recently.

[Red Badger]

Calypso Louie says the pyramids were built with flying machines, invented by black people from the mothership.......

[nevergore]

I levitate my wife's Shih Tzu when the dang thing keeps barking.....

[frogjerk]

I can levitate many things. Ping pong balls, feathers, food and drinks to my moth when I need to... ;)

[dangus]

Any fans of Don Herbert ("Dune") out there?

[Squidpup]

Reminds me of the "squirrel launcher" video clip

[Tijeras_Slim]

Nothing really new, Nasa has been doing this for years.

Heck, I was doing it with Estes rockets in the early 70's.

[Inwoodian]

Didn't Richard Gere or Liberace use one of these things on a hamster?

[Kenton]

Scientists have now levitated small live animals using sounds that are, well, uplifting.

I used to levitate when I listened to Pink Floyd. ;)

[FLOutdoorsman]

I actually was thinking Richard Gere would have been mentioned in less than 10 posts..Geeze FReepers slacking today.

[cripplecreek]

Richard Gere just makes small animals disappear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpW-5BzQRr8

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***So, these guys are working on Universal Solvent?***

For heaven's sake don't drop any on the floor!

[RegulatorCountry]

"I can levitate many things ... food and drinks to my moth when I need to"

Just train it to land, no need for fancy levitation, lol.

[DejaJude]

Any fans of Don Herbert ("Dune") out there?

It's Frank Herbert, and that involved spice and the folding of space.