Scientists Turn UFO Tractor Beams From Sci-Fi Films Into Real-Life Experiment

No sci-fi film would be complete without the famous trope of a tractor (or a cow in some cases) being beamed up into a UFO. Of course, the idea might have just seemed like something cooked up in Hollywood to sell how advanced extraterrestrial societies might be. But could it exist in real life?
 
It already does, apparently. Although, it only previously worked on a microscopic level. When researching medicine, scientists have used optical tweezers, which are lasers that can pull out atoms and nanoparticles.
 
A team in China has now found a way to scale this up to manipulate macroscopic objects. The initial findings were first published in the journal Optic Express where the experiment illustrated how even the naked eye can now see the laser moving objects.
 
In the experiment, the team used a Graphene composite and put int a rarefied gaseous environment with lower pressure than our atmosphere. This put the environment at a similar atmospheric value as that on Mars. Lead author Lei Wang proposes the device might aid missions on Mars to manipulate vehicles and gather samples.

The laser uses the momentum of photons to exert a small pushing force on an item. A torsional pendulum device was employed to shoot out the laser-pulling phenomenon. From this, the new method allowed the team to increase the light-pulling force’s amplitude threefold.

As a result of the study, the researchers found that flexible light manipulation of macro objects is attainable. With that, they hope to scale up the project and are aiming for it to aid others in the field with their experiments. 
 
 
 
[via Inverse and Popular Mechanics, cover photo 205164267 © Zita Stankova | Dreamstime.com]