Posted on 09/11/2010 9:57:20 AM PDT by Immerito
Scientists have invented a tractor beam which is able to move large objects longer distances than ever before by using a laser light.
A team of researchers at the Australian National University in Canberra have brought the art of molecular transportation, made famous by the catchphrase 'Beam me up, Scotty' from the TV series Star Trek, a fraction closer.
Using what they call tractor beams - rays of energy that can move objects - they have managed to move tiny particles up to 59 inches from one place to another.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Okay, this is not transport at the atomic level.
This is movement by differential heating of localized areas.
Standard physics, but quite interesting.
Yeah, the headline of the article is misleading. "Beam me up, Scotty" referred to the Star Trek "transporter". The "tractor beam" was quite different and had entirely different application.
Oh, well, probably nobody cares, except for those of us who still value accuracy and precision in language. :)
Beat me to it.
I can move things with my hands.
Is a John Deere tractor beam?
Or know something about what we are talking about before we talk about it.
Or know something about what we are talking about before we talk about it.
Thank you both. :)
Thank you both for the correction. :-)
It kind of makes you wonder if this guy is the one who should be reporting things like this, if he doesn’t understand conceptually the difference between a tractor beam and a transporter.
The tractor beam would latch on to an object and pull it along. The transporter dematerialized matter and rematerialized it over distance.
If you used a tractor beam to try to move people from ship to ship, it would cause some problems. Some? Har... some fatal ones.
Has Al Gore weighed in?
He's a journalist, we should be thankful he didn't say "Star Track" or "Dr. Spock".
What they describe bears no relation at all to the transporter used in Star Trek.
Like all inventions, it sounds inconsequential at first. After all, who cares about a car that can go 15 MPH? A horse runs faster than that.
Very cool.
When it can ‘pull’ instead of ‘push’, it will be a tractor beam. This can only ‘push’.
You can ‘push’ eggs across a floor by flapping pizza boxes at them.
” Is a John Deere tractor beam? “
Duct tape a nice hunk of 4 x 12 oak on it.
Photoshop, please...
How big a pizza box do I need for my Sienna van? I’m thinking of mounting a spinnaker on the hood for windy days.
Can we beam Obama back to Kenya??
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