Scientists have created a silent sound beam that can lift and move objects without touching them
A Danish laboratory focused on acoustic precision has succeeded in developing an invisible ‘tractor’ beam composed entirely of sound waves. This technology allows levitation, rotation and precise control of small solid objects through the air – without any physical contact, magnets or wires. Even more surprisingly, the entire system operates completely silently, below the threshold of audibility to the human ear.
This effect is achieved thanks to special ultrasonic speakers that create complex 3D sound fields. The interference of the sound waves creates areas of high pressure that act as ‘invisible hands’. These pressure pockets can grasp and precisely move objects such as metal particles, liquid droplets or microsensors.
Unlike earlier acoustic levitation methods that only allowed simple up and down floating, this new system can create vortices and spatial nodes that allow objects to be moved around corners, rotated in three axes and even stacked – all in complete silence. The system has millimetre accuracy and works with solids, liquids and some gels.
This technology has enormous potential in environments where sterility must be maintained or where physical contact is undesirable. It can help in biomedical laboratories when handling sensitive cells, in the manufacture of chips without the risk of contamination, or even in space where gravity is a barrier to precise movement.
In the future, it is planned to expand to multiple beams that will function like fingers – allowing gentle manipulation of instruments or tissues directly in the air. In practice, this would create a ‘robotic hand’ made up only of sound and physics.
Until now, we have had to grasp things to move them. Today, we can do it without touching.
Photo source: www.pexels.com
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