Researchers Working On New Tractor Beam Method

[Corpse XxX]

I've always wondered how this works anyways, is it gravity or something? Maybe magnets, how does that work?

Yes, how do magnets work?

We must keep this a secret from the mormons..

 

[therandombear]

Wasn't the Spaceballs tractor beam easy to destroy? Just jam it...then again a huge jar of jam can be pretty expencive.

 

[Spacelord]

It's news like this that leaves me quietly baffled with the realisation that I am indeed living in the future.

I've always wondered how this works anyways, is it gravity or something? Maybe magnets, how does that work?

I see what you did there...

 

[DTWolfwood]

bet you this is one of those cases where you need like some crazy amount of power to get a beam capable of pulling anything with noticeable mass. So it will go absolutely no where

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

This is like in Red Alert 3 how the Soviets use a sattelite to pick up tanks then drop them on the enemy.

This could be a cheap means of getting stuff in to space.

Could be, but then any new method of moving things "could be" cheaper than current methods for all we know.

One problem that is never addressed, though, is conservation of momentum. You pull something towards you, it pulls you towards it.

In traditional physics yes, but there was no indication of any kind of force being exerted on the emitter. Could very well be that the emitter may be drawn to to the object, but we would have to wait for a large scale version to be built.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

This is like in Red Alert 3 how the Soviets use a sattelite to pick up tanks then drop them on the enemy.

This could be a cheap means of getting stuff in to space.

Definitely not. A satellite that can generate the necessary strength of the beam will be a lot less cost-effective than a space elevator.

The Space Elevator is a pipe dream. The initial cost of a sattelite may be more expensive, but the constant maintenance the elevator would need makes it too expensive long term.

 

[TheMann]

Lock in auxiliary power Chewie! I said lock in auxiliary power!

 

[Thaluikhain]

In traditional physics yes, but there was no indication of any kind of force being exerted on the emitter. Could very well be that the emitter may be drawn to to the object, but we would have to wait for a large scale version to be built.

If conservation of momentum doesn't hold true in this case, then an awful lot about our science would have to be wrong. Not impossible, of course, but given that our science is pretty consistent at the moment, it seems unlikely.

 

[Squilookle]

Ladies and Gentlemen- we have gone from Blow to Suck.

This is a great day for beam technology everywhere.

 

[Sojoez]

Hang on, if I get this correct, they have a beam that goes through a particle and then forces it to move as it exits it.
(a particle accelerator lol!)

So lets say you get hit by one beam. All of the particles hit by the beam will move forward.
And if hit by multiple beams, your particles will move in different directions.
Result? -'SPLAT!'-

 

[Ben Legend]

You silly sods. What a waste. I'm going to be smart and attach one to my belt. ;D

 

[aashell13]

Casual Spaceballs references ftw!

OT: I can't see this being useful for anything other than physics experiments.

that, and nanoassembly. which one day might cease to be the same thing.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

The Space Elevator is a pipe dream. The initial cost of a sattelite may be more expensive, but the constant maintenance the elevator would need makes it too expensive long term.

If they ever get around to perfecting Carbon Nanotube technology enough to actually be able to build a space elevator....why would it need constant maintenance? Aren't Nanotubes supposed to be ludicrously tough?

OT: Dibs on Biotic powers.....

 

[AndyRock]

A bit late on this, it's been on the bbc a few days, but none the less, it's an interesting peice of tech, and has alot of potential in the manufacture of new electronic systems

 

[Hgame]

This is like in Red Alert 3 how the Soviets use a sattelite to pick up tanks then drop them on the enemy.

This could be a cheap means of getting stuff in to space.

Unfortunately if the object is heavy enough to be useful (i.e heavier than the satellite) in space the tractor beam will actually pull the satellite towards the object and the earth rather than the other way round.

 

[A Curious Fellow]

The fact that you mentioned "Star Trek and Spaceballs" and not "Star Trek and Star Wars" is the best part.

 

[Iron Lightning]

Well I know we're all into this "ZOMG we're living in the future" meme but the only application intended for the Bessel beam is the manipulation of individual particles. Tractor beams are actually pretty easy to make using directed magnets (think cup magnets) and the knowledge that the near-zero friction of space makes it pretty easy to attract objects.

 

[Stevepinto3]

Hey Science, I want my Jetpack. Yeah, remember that deal? You're keeping a lot of people waiting. Hop to it.

 

[Catalyst6]

I hope that these beams run on nuclear power, if only so that we can call them "Nuclear Bessels".

 

[Rayne870]

So basically a high tech fishing net, I can dig it.