'Star Trek'-style tractor beam can beam you up — if you're microscopic

Scientists have built an actual working tractor beam. Sweet! But you can stop your nerd-drooling, because we're not talking about spaceship-level stuff yet — or even ants. The experimental device only works at the tiny scale of individual particles at the moment, though it offers a glimpse of one "Star Trek" technology that could actually be realized. A partnership between the Czech Republic's Institute of Scientific Instruments and Scotland's University of St. Andrews used the negative radiation pressure in light to create an optical field that pulls particles towards it. We know what you’re thinking: "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" In retrospect, it's all so obvious. [Source]

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