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Bessel Beam 'Tractor Beam' Concept Theoretically Demonstrated

Posted by Soulskill on from the finally-asked-wil-wheaton-for-help dept.

cylonlover writes "Last year, NASA revealed it was evaluating three potential 'tractor beam' technologies to deliver planetary or atmospheric particles to a robotic rover or orbiting spacecraft. At the time, the third of these, which involved the use of a Bessel beam, only existed on paper. Researchers at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have now proven the theory behind the concept, demonstrating how a tractor beam can be realized in the real world – albeit on a very small scale (abstract)."

2 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. "theoretically demonstrated" by noh8rz3 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bessel Beam 'Tractor Beam' Concept Theoretically Demonstrated

    theoretically demonstrated? does not compute... pc load letter... explode!

  2. Re:Any experts out there? by Jellodyne · · Score: 4, Funny

    It looks to me that we could use this technology to produce artificial gravity for say, a person. There are some minor limitations -- since the tech only works on very small particles, you'd have to use a very high energy Bessel beam or possibly a conventional laser to completely vaporize the person, and then the Bessel beam would be able to act on them, pulling their individual particles in the direction of the floor.