Ever wanted to be Darth Vader? Good news: You can now bring "Star Wars" to life with
an actual "tractor beam" to move small objects using sound waves, in the comfort of your own home — at least if you own a 3D printer.
A team of physicists, led by research assistant Asier Marzo of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, has released instructions in the journal Applied Physics Letters and on YouTube for how to create a plastic tractor-beam device. When sound waves travel through the device — a collection of carefully calibrated tubes — they become organized in such a way as to form a true tractor beam. This acoustic beam can pull tiny objects, like beads or even small insects, toward it using only the power of sound.
"Previously, we developed a tractor beam, but it was very complicated and pricey because it required a phase array, which is a complex electronic system," Marzo said in a statement. "In this paper, we made a simple, static tractor beam that only requires a static piece of matter." [10 Futuristic Technologies 'Star Trek' Fans Would Love to See] https://www.livescience.com/57372-make-your-own-3d-printed-tractor-beam.html
