Star Trek TRACTOR BEAM a reality...

[kiwi1960]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/73433987/tractor-beams-of-science-fiction-becoming-a-reality

The tractor beam, a staple of science fiction including Star Wars and Star Trek that is employed to grab spaceships and other things remotely, is entering the realm of reality.

Researchers on Tuesday (Wednesday NZT) said they have developed a tractor beam that uses high-amplitude sound waves to levitate, move and rotate small objects without making contact with them. They envisioned medical and other applications for the device.

"As a mechanical wave, sound can exert significant forces on objects. Just remember the last time you were in a concert and your chest was vibrating with the music," said study lead author Asier Marzo of Britain's University of Bristol and Spain's Public University of Navarre.

Marzo said this sonic tractor beam has manipulated objects up to about 4 millimetres in diameter and can control the position and orientation of the levitated objects.

The tractor beam uses ultrasound at a frequency of 40 kilohertz. People can hear only below 20 kilohertz.

The researchers used sound waves from 64 miniature loudspeakers called transducers to create what they called "acoustic holograms" to control an object without touching it. These waves took the form of tweezers to lift an object, a vortex to hold a levitating object in place and a cage to surrounds an object and hold it in place.

"A simple wave will just push the particle in the direction of propagation. However, multiple waves will interfere with each other and create complex, acoustic 3D shapes that exert forces from all directions and keep the particle in place," Marzo said.

Marzo said the largest object moved using the device was a 4 mm bead made of a light plastic called polystyrene.

"With special high-power transducers it would be possible to levitate even steel balls," Marzo said.

Marzo described possible medical applications.

"Sound cannot travel through the void of space but it can do it through water or human tissue. This potentially enables the manipulation of clots, kidney stones, drug capsules, microsurgical instruments or cells inside our body without any incision," Marzo said.

More powerful sonic tractor beams capable of levitating bigger objects from greater distances could control objects floating adrift in zero-gravity environments like inside the International Space Station, Marzo said.

The research, which also involved researchers at Sussex University and a British company called Ultrahaptics, was published in the journal Nature Communications.

- Reuters

The first acoustic holograms that can exert forces on particles to levitate and manipulate them - or a tractor beam, in the parlance of science fiction.

[PB666]

Its a reverse tractor beam, its does not pull but pushes. Not much more meaningful than putting a ping pong ball over the outlet of a vacuum cleaner.

[K^2]

It can pull. In fact, it can, in theory, do anything you'd do with much smaller particles using laser tweezers.

[PB666]

We seen these types of devices before, including the laser devices. These are not anything like the fictitious tracter beams of sci-fi. Just like warp drives this stuff is bunk.

Does this tractor beam work in a vacuum. Nope. All they are doing is applying energy to air molecules and those molecules are pushing the object where they want it to go. if i am at point x and i want object to move toward me, all i need to do is fire a missile at a point on the other side relayive to me and the objects move toward, but that is not a tractor beam.

The idea of a tractor is something that creates some sort of force sustaing link, so that if i move the force attrcating that object to me increases, if it gets to close that force will decrease unless i change the dynamic that it closes the distance.

Edited October 28, 2015 by PB666

[Brotoro]

I stopped reading at "sound waves"... because that ain't no tractor beam.

[problemecium]

Indeed. It's all well and good for a proof-of-concept, but we're going to have trouble capturing Princess Vespa if we can't make this work in space ;P

[p1t1o]

Its not a tractor beam unless you can re-modulate the spacial variance of the beam to match and penetrate an event horizon energy field [sic], like they did in star trek voyager last night which I just started re-watching from the beginning

(Turns out the ship they were trying to save was a time reflection of themselves from the future...dont worry though, they managed to escape by widening a rift in the event horzon [sic] using a deckion beam...oh deckions, is there anything you CAN'T do?)

[PB666]

I think the only real tractor beam is a modulated electromagnet. I never figured out on ST were the green light came from, since basically there is no gas or particulate for the light to scatter off of. By an large EM pushes, not pulls.

Sci fi got the small things predicted well, the big stuff.........Fail.

[Sampa]

I think the only real tractor beam is a modulated electromagnet. I never figured out on ST were the green light came from, since basically there is no gas or particulate for the light to scatter off of. By an large EM pushes, not pulls.

Sci fi got the small things predicted well, the big stuff.........Fail.

I think the light is simply a hollywood added thing.

[p1t1o]

Well, "fail" if you expect ST to be totally faithful to current science, sure.

ST is more "space-opera" than sci-fi anyways.

[Dark Junior]

What's the point of a reverse tractor beam?

[p1t1o]

What's the point of a reverse tractor beam?

Moving your chips around at the roulette table?

[Nikolai]

What's the point of a reverse tractor beam?

Everything in Star Trek has to be reversible. Even the polarity of the neutron stream. It's a rule.

[PB666]

Well, "fail" if you expect ST to be totally faithful to current science, sure.

ST is more "space-opera" than sci-fi anyways.

No, never did, but many folks think that just because of the tech concept work, they all should work.

[p1t1o]

No, never did, but many folks think that just because they saw it on TV, they all should work.

There, I fixed that for you

[kiwi1960]

You guys miss the point.... it all needs to start somewhere... the mere fact that they got this far, using sound, proves that the concept is feasible... with each step, they get close to a space based tractor / repulse beam... this is further than they were last year, and no doubt, next year, they will be closer than this year. Had they not started, then we would neither be closer or further than we are now... so, the point is, at least they are working on it... as they are with all the other classic sci-fi inventions... warp drive, worm holes, phasers, teleporters...

and lets not forget that the main Star Trek (TOS) dream is now a reality.... the communicator (cellphone)

Some of you guys seem to think that unless you can get from zero to a 100 in a split second, then why bother? Inventions are not instant.... it all starts with a dream... look at how long its taken Squad to get their dream THIS far.... so please guys... lighten up a bit.

Edited October 30, 2015 by kiwi1960

[vger]

So if it can do all that, can it turn screws?

[PB666]

http://www.themasonreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tractor-beam.jpg

You guys miss the point.... it all needs to start somewhere... the mere fact that they got this far, using sound, proves that the concept is feasible... with each step, they get close to a space based tractor / repulse beam... this is further than they were last year, and no doubt, next year, they will be closer than this year. Had they not started, then we would neither be closer or further than we are now... so, the point is, at least they are working on it... as they are with all the other classic sci-fi inventions... warp drive, worm holes, phasers, teleporters...

and lets not forget that the main Star Trek (TOS) dream is now a reality.... the communicator (cellphone)

Some of you guys seem to think that unless you can get from zero to a 100 in a split second, then why bother? Inventions are not instant.... it all starts with a dream... look at how long its taken Squad to get their dream THIS far.... so please guys... lighten up a bit.

Because its not a 'beam' per say, and because its not a tractor, its an im goimg to manipulate the air around something and make it move; which btw the working 1939 vintage vacuum cleaner in my attic can do, this is just a hyper-geekification of pre star trek technology.

[KerikBalm]

One should not mistake fictional science for science fiction.

One should also not mistake a fantasy set in the future/space as science fiction.

Scientifically illiterate people often cannot tell the difference though.

Star Trek is mostly fictional science, sometimes with true sci-fi elements.

Star Wars is space fantasy.

[magnemoe]

http://www.themasonreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tractor-beam.jpg

You guys miss the point.... it all needs to start somewhere... the mere fact that they got this far, using sound, proves that the concept is feasible... with each step, they get close to a space based tractor / repulse beam... this is further than they were last year, and no doubt, next year, they will be closer than this year. Had they not started, then we would neither be closer or further than we are now... so, the point is, at least they are working on it... as they are with all the other classic sci-fi inventions... warp drive, worm holes, phasers, teleporters...

and lets not forget that the main Star Trek (TOS) dream is now a reality.... the communicator (cellphone)

Some of you guys seem to think that unless you can get from zero to a 100 in a split second, then why bother? Inventions are not instant.... it all starts with a dream... look at how long its taken Squad to get their dream THIS far.... so please guys... lighten up a bit.

First of the communicators are not cell phones as they lack the cell network. they are walkie talkies using the flip phone design.

Why not its an pretty smart design for an small communication device, they fallen out of fashion because we want large screens.

Cell phones date back to the 70s anyway. Tablets are also an old idea back to the end of the 80s and an even more obvious design.

Main point however is that star trek is an space opera using tecnobable to sound hard scifi.

They also have lots of inventions who are not very well thought off, the teleporters instead of shuttles to get away with renetry, landing and taking off who would blow the budget. Phasers who dissolve something instead of an normal kinetic or energy weapon.

Note the warp drive is obliviously needed to get between star systems fast so no issues with it.

[Jovus]

Screw all the other predictions in Star Trek; I want my Apollo 30.

[PB666]

http://www.themasonreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tractor-beam.jpg

You guys miss the point.... it all needs to start somewhere... the mere fact that they got this far, using sound, proves that the concept is feasible... with each step, they get close to a space based tractor / repulse beam... this is further than they were last year, and no doubt, next year, they will be closer than this year. Had they not started, then we would neither be closer or further than we are now... so, the point is, at least they are working on it... as they are with all the other classic sci-fi inventions... warp drive, worm holes, phasers, teleporters...

and lets not forget that the main Star Trek (TOS) dream is now a reality.... the communicator (cellphone)

.

The codec for the cell phone was created during WWII. BTW.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

In 1917, Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt filed a patent for what he described as a "pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone"

Early predecessors of cellular phones included analog radio communications from ships and trains. The race to create truly portable telephone devices began after World War II, with developments taking place in many countries. The advances in mobile telephony have been traced in successive generations from the early "0G" (zeroth generation) services like the Bell System's Mobile Telephone Service and its successor, Improved Mobile Telephone Service. These "0G" systems were not cellular, supported few simultaneous calls, and were very expensive

Noting that the defense department commisioned contractors to build a coding system that would allow encryption via RF rotation protocol. The war ended before it was required however.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones

In December 1947, Douglas H. Ring and W. Rae Young, Bell Labs engineers, proposed hexagonal cells for mobile phones in vehicles.^[15] At this stage, the technology to implement these ideas did not exist, nor had the frequencies been allocated. Two decades would pass before Richard H. Frenkiel, Joel S. Engel and Philip T. Porter of Bell Labs expanded the early proposals into a much more detailed system plan. It was Porter who first proposed that the cell towers use the now-familiar directional antennas to reduce interference and increase channel reuse (see picture at right) ^[16] Porter also invented the dial-then-send method used by all cell phones to reduce wasted channel time.

The only real difference of the motorola is that instead of using a cars alternator and the car battery to charge a mobile phone, the 1973/4 version had a battery in the device and a 120volt charger somewhere else.

The first use in a sci-fi series

One of the earliest fictional descriptions of a mobile phone can be found in the 1948 science fiction novel Space Cadet by Robert Heinlein. The protagonist, who has just traveled to Colorado from his home in Des Moines, receives a call from his father on a pocket telephone. Before going to space he decides to ship the telephone home “since it was limited by its short range to the neighborhood of an earth-side [i.e. terrestrial] relay office.†Ten years later, an essay by Arthur C. Clarke envisioned a "personal transceiver, so small and compact that every man carries one." He wrote: "the time will come when we will be able to call a person anywhere on Earth merely by dialing a number." Such a device would also, in Clarke's vision, include means for global positioning so that "no one need ever again be lost."

Cell phone with a GPS .. . . .

And the tractor in the cartoon is pointing in the wrong direction, tractors pull from the big wheels, many tractors have the hitch right on the rear axle, that's what give the pull the traction.

Star Trek did bring forth ideas that have been copied, for example the tricorder and the medical bed, but this are still not widely implimented.

Technically speaking none of these technologies are ground breaking physics. Things like a quantum computer, nope, they did not inspire.

If the alcubierre drives works as it might for subluminal travel, then it might get credit for inspiring this.

[magnemoe]

The codec for the cell phone was created during WWII. BTW.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

Noting that the defense department commisioned contractors to build a coding system that would allow encryption via RF rotation protocol. The war ended before it was required however.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones

The only real difference of the motorola is that instead of using a cars alternator and the car battery to charge a mobile phone, the 1973/4 version had a battery in the device and a 120volt charger somewhere else.

The first use in a sci-fi series

Cell phone with a GPS .. . . .

And the tractor in the cartoon is pointing in the wrong direction, tractors pull from the big wheels, many tractors have the hitch right on the rear axle, that's what give the pull the traction.

Star Trek did bring forth ideas that have been copied, for example the tricorder and the medical bed, but this are still not widely implimented.

Technically speaking none of these technologies are ground breaking physics. Things like a quantum computer, nope, they did not inspire.

If the alcubierre drives works as it might for subluminal travel, then it might get credit for inspiring this.

Nice, and much earlier than I expected, Heinlein also understood that an cell phone need cells with transmitters to work. Yes you could use something simlar during an space expedition if you had an huge antenna in orbit pointing at you, this would however not be an cell phone using cell phone architecture.

Today we would probably use something more like internet and automated routing, if mothership is in range you call directly to it, if not it goes by relay satellite, and your communicator talks to your rover who talk to the shuttle who talk to satellite or mothership.

Yes both NASA and military is looking into this sort of stuff.

The alcubierre idea of compressing space also an pretty old idea I guess it predates star trek and they was smart enough to use an more plausible way of doing faster than light.

Anti matter weapons is also plausible as in not breaking a lot of physical laws.

[kiwi1960]

The codec for the cell phone was created during WWII. BTW.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

Noting that the defense department commisioned contractors to build a coding system that would allow encryption via RF rotation protocol. The war ended before it was required however.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones

The only real difference of the motorola is that instead of using a cars alternator and the car battery to charge a mobile phone, the 1973/4 version had a battery in the device and a 120volt charger somewhere else.

The first use in a sci-fi series

Cell phone with a GPS .. . . .

And the tractor in the cartoon is pointing in the wrong direction, tractors pull from the big wheels, many tractors have the hitch right on the rear axle, that's what give the pull the traction.

Star Trek did bring forth ideas that have been copied, for example the tricorder and the medical bed, but this are still not widely implimented.

Technically speaking none of these technologies are ground breaking physics. Things like a quantum computer, nope, they did not inspire.

If the alcubierre drives works as it might for subluminal travel, then it might get credit for inspiring this.

During WW2 you say? 1917 you say.... that implies its WW1 not 2.

You guys really do need an education on the basics of inventing.

Firstly, someone has a need for a "thing" .... someone dreams the "thing".... then its invented.

Most of the things you have today are things from sci fi... before they existed, sci fi writers had dreamt up the following...

Televisions ...

Cellphones

Space Travel (Jules Verne wrote about the moon landing....)

but also about submarines...

Computers

Video conferencing

I'm not sure why I even bother. Most of you were born in the age of "granted"..... you take everything for granted way too easily. I actually feel sorry for you all...

Its true you know, the Pioneer spirit is long gone...

[PB666]

During WW2 you say? 1917 you say.... that implies its WW1 not 2.

You guys really do need an education on the basics of inventing.

Firstly, someone has a need for a "thing" .... someone dreams the "thing".... then its invented.

Most of the things you have today are things from sci fi... before they existed, sci fi writers had dreamt up the following...

Televisions ...

Cellphones

Space Travel (Jules Verne wrote about the moon landing....)

but also about submarines...

Computers

Video conferencing

I'm not sure why I even bother. Most of you were born in the age of "granted"..... you take everything for granted way too easily. I actually feel sorry for you all...

Its true you know, the Pioneer spirit is long gone...

Not sure why i should respond to this, but i was debunking the myth of Star trek. Sure dreaming about stuff, but hollywood is not neceesarily menlo park. The first encryption program for a cell phone was actually invented by an actress, but that was two decades before star trek. What hollowood does is glorify itself and attributes to itself things it did not create.