http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-21187598
Star Trek's engineer
Practical scientific theories on real-life tractor beams have been developed since 1960, but it is thought this is the first time a beam has been used to draw microscopic objects towards the light source.
Scientists have previously used a technique called an optical vortex to move individual particles using beams of light, but this new approach works in liquids and a vacuum.
The first appearance of a tractor beam in fiction is thought to have been in the American author EE Smith's story The Skylark of Space, which was serialised in 1928. The story contained references to an "attractor beam".
It has been a staple plot device in science fiction television and movies allowing objects like space ships to be trapped in a beam of light, but Dr Cizmar said this particular technique would not eventually lead to that.
He said: "Unfortunately there is a transfer of energy. On a microscopic scale that is OK, but on a macro scale it would cause huge problems.
"It would result in a massive amount of heating of an object, like a space shuttle. So trapping a space ship is out of the question."
A real-life "tractor beam", which uses light to attract objects, has been developed by scientists.
It is hoped it could have medical applications by targeting and attracting individual cells.
The research, published in Nature Photonics and led by the University of St Andrews, is limited to moving microscopic particles.
In science fiction programmes such as Star Trek, tractor beams are used to move much more massive objects.
It is not the first time science has aimed to replicate the feat - albeit at smaller scales.
In 2011, researchers from China and Hong Kong showed how it might be done with laser beams of a specific shape - and the US space agency Nasa has even funded a study to examine how the technique might help with manipulating samples in space.
The new study's lead researcher Dr Tomas Cizmar, research fellow in the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews, said while the technique is very new, it had huge potential.
He said: "The practical applications could be very great, very exciting. The tractor beam is very selective in the properties of the particles it acts on, so you could pick up specific particles in a mixture."
Right we need them in the game now and I dont care what they say about space ships
I always love Scfi becoming fact. Look at us all walking about with our personal communication devices and ipads. Picard used to walk about with one after all :smilie:
I think we should have them in game for the bigger ships, if they destroy a pirate attacking them and some cargo is floating the bigger ships surly would have the upgrade of a tractor beam over Scoop…. Be even better if you could hold ships till either they behaved and you let them go or they burnt out there engines fighting the beam.
Star Trek's engineer
Practical scientific theories on real-life tractor beams have been developed since 1960, but it is thought this is the first time a beam has been used to draw microscopic objects towards the light source.
Scientists have previously used a technique called an optical vortex to move individual particles using beams of light, but this new approach works in liquids and a vacuum.
The first appearance of a tractor beam in fiction is thought to have been in the American author EE Smith's story The Skylark of Space, which was serialised in 1928. The story contained references to an "attractor beam".
It has been a staple plot device in science fiction television and movies allowing objects like space ships to be trapped in a beam of light, but Dr Cizmar said this particular technique would not eventually lead to that.
He said: "Unfortunately there is a transfer of energy. On a microscopic scale that is OK, but on a macro scale it would cause huge problems.
"It would result in a massive amount of heating of an object, like a space shuttle. So trapping a space ship is out of the question."
A real-life "tractor beam", which uses light to attract objects, has been developed by scientists.
It is hoped it could have medical applications by targeting and attracting individual cells.
The research, published in Nature Photonics and led by the University of St Andrews, is limited to moving microscopic particles.
In science fiction programmes such as Star Trek, tractor beams are used to move much more massive objects.
It is not the first time science has aimed to replicate the feat - albeit at smaller scales.
In 2011, researchers from China and Hong Kong showed how it might be done with laser beams of a specific shape - and the US space agency Nasa has even funded a study to examine how the technique might help with manipulating samples in space.
The new study's lead researcher Dr Tomas Cizmar, research fellow in the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews, said while the technique is very new, it had huge potential.
He said: "The practical applications could be very great, very exciting. The tractor beam is very selective in the properties of the particles it acts on, so you could pick up specific particles in a mixture."
Right we need them in the game now and I dont care what they say about space ships
I always love Scfi becoming fact. Look at us all walking about with our personal communication devices and ipads. Picard used to walk about with one after all :smilie:I think we should have them in game for the bigger ships, if they destroy a pirate attacking them and some cargo is floating the bigger ships surly would have the upgrade of a tractor beam over Scoop…. Be even better if you could hold ships till either they behaved and you let them go or they burnt out there engines fighting the beam.
