MIT Builds a Mini Tractor Beam

Taking up the sci-fi staple of "tractor beams," scientists have developed a way to use light to grab and move minuscule particles on a microchip. The research could lead to fine-grained biological sensors and other precisely built nanoscale devices. The work by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers could extend the possibilities for "optical tweezers" - super-focused beams of light that have been used for years to study and manipulate tiny biological structures or even individual atoms.
Today the tractor beam, tomorrow the transporter?

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