Scientists turn light into a tractor beam! Star Trek future...TODAY!

it involves a principle that’s been known for centuries, since Johannes Kepler first deduced that it was the pressure of light that pushed comet tails outward from the sun.

This light pressure has already been harnessed for solar sails and attitude controls for satellites, but the St. Andrews team has found a way to turn this pressure into a negativePutting it simply, the standing wave at a particular spot near the light source interacts with spheres of a particular size and mass in such a way that the light waves push in the wrong direction.

It’s a bit like a dinghy moored at a pier where the current is moving away from the pier, but produces eddies that push the dinghy back into the pier. force.


[link to www.gizmag.com]