In 2018, Arthur Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers: laser beams that can be used to manipulate microscopic particles. While useful for many biological applications, ...

A study published last month by University of Minnesota mechanical engineering researchers has the potential to make waves – ultrasonic waves, to be exact – in fields like surgery and manufacturing. U ...

Researchers in Switzerland have found a way of using sound waves to manipulate objects in disordered environments such as liquids. Instead of trapping the objects as conventional optical and acoustic ...

The metamaterial created by Zhang is used to push and rotate an object adorned with the University of Wisconsin’s Bucky the Badger. NEW ORLEANS, May 20, 2025 – Sound can do more than just provide a ...

Hold on to your wand, Harry Potter: Science has outdone even your best "Leviosa!" levitation spell. Researchers report that they have levitated objects with sound waves, and moved those objects around ...

TORONTO (CTV Network) — Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have created ‘tweezers of sound’ that can move objects without physical contact. The technology creates non-contact manipulation of ...

Gene Roddenberry would be beaming with pride right now to see the scientific community hellbent on making his science fiction into science fact. Gene did actually get to see some of his ideas turn ...

Scientists have built a novel sonic tractor beam that can lift and move objects using sound waves. High-amplitude sound waves are used to generate an acoustic hologram which can pick up and move small ...

Researchers in Tokyo have put a new twist on the use of sound to suspend objects in air. They've used ultrasonic standing waves to trap pieces of wood, metal, and water – and even move them around.

The researchers were able to levitate and transport items ranging from a droplet of water to a toothpick. They did so using pairs of sound-emitting platforms and reflector sheets. Sound leaves the ...