Tractor beams, energy rays that can move objects, are a science fiction mainstay. But now they are becoming a reality -- at least for moving very tiny objects.
General Physics
Sep 8, 2010
13
0
It's not at every university that laser pulses powerful enough to burn paper and skin are sent blazing down a hallway. But that's what happened in UMD's Energy Research Facility, an unremarkable looking building on the northeast ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 19, 2023
3
637
A team of physicists from the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms and other universities has developed a special type of quantum computer known as a programmable quantum simulator capable of operating with 256 quantum ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 8, 2021
3
5584
(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 40 years, scientists have been using the radiation pressure of light to move and manipulate small objects in space. But until now, the movements have always been restricted to very small scales, ...
The quantum internet promises absolutely tap-proof communication and powerful distributed sensor networks for new science and technology. However, because quantum information cannot be copied, it is not possible to send this ...
Quantum Physics
Aug 29, 2019
7
4726
Gravitational wave scientists from The University of Western Australia have led the development of a new laser mode sensor with unprecedented precision that will be used to probe the interiors of neutron stars and test fundamental ...
General Physics
May 30, 2022
2
2040
We live in a world where digital information is exploding. Some 90% of the world's data was generated in the past two years. The obvious question is: how can we store it all?
General Physics
Jun 20, 2013
29
0
Seven years ago, Duke University engineers demonstrated the first working invisibility cloak in complex laboratory experiments. Now it appears creating a simple cloak has become a lot simpler.
Optics & Photonics
May 6, 2013
11
0
Researchers have developed a way to use laser light to pull a macroscopic object. Although microscopic optical tractor beams have been demonstrated before, this is one of the first times that laser pulling has been used on ...
Optics & Photonics
Jan 11, 2023
0
722
(PhysOrg.com) -- While the optical laser celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, some scientists have been working on a new type of coherent beam amplifier for sound rather than light. Scientists theorize that ...
