Tractor Beams Are Now Real!

Okay, that may be overstating it just a bit. But Australian scientists claim to have moved small particles five feet using only light:

The device works by shining a hollow laser beam around tiny glass particles. The air surrounding the particle heats up, while the dark center of the beam stays cool. When the particle starts to drift out of the middle and into the bright laser beam, the force of heated air molecules bouncing around and hitting the particle's surface is enough to nudge it back to the center.

A small amount of light also seeps into the darker middle part of the beam, heating the air on one side of the particle and pushing it along the length of the laser beam. If another such laser is lined up on the opposite side of the beam, the speed and direction the particle moves can be easily manipulated by changing the brightness of the beams.


Link via Popular Science | Image: Paramount

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Great article! I love that picture of Discovery taking off. I watched this launch live (well, with a 20 second delay) on NasaTV the other night, great launch. It was worth staying up until 2am for!

Great facts too, quite interesting.
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This was the firs mission that carried a male and a female of African descent, right?

The astronaut who set a new record for the number of space walks is an African American male, a detail everyone appears to be trying to keep under wraps.
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Yes, you're right Mary Kelley - STS-116 is the first mission carrying two African-Americans together.

The very first Afrian-American astronaut is Guion Bluford, who flew on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.
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Very Nice Artical thank you very much for spending your time on this and puttign in a good effort. I dont no if you will egt this message lol cause this was 4 years ago :/
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I do have many questions to ask about this magnificent flying machine but instead looking for answers I would like to extend my congratulations to the team of professionals that created this wonderful mechanical bird. Me as a commercial pilot and C.F.I. everytime the Space Shuttle goes up part of me goes with the crew wishim them a safe return. In my opinion this "bird" should be with us for many more years to come because it is not replacement to this wonderful mechanical bird; either way I wish to all of the people that they go up with it I wish a happy and safety return on landing.
Tony
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