These days, the electronic components at the heart of devices like smartphones and computers are assembled by automated machines. A new study by an international team of researchers has established ...

Stand aside, Wesley Crusher: there’s a new tractor beam on deck that pulls objects using nothing more than laser light. The device has already grabbed NASA’s attention as it could one day prove ...

A breakthrough technology from scientists at MIT has made it possible to manipulate particles in what has been referred to as reminiscent of the tractor beam in Star Wars and Star Trek. The microchip ...

From The Skylark of Space to Star Wars, no self-respecting science fiction spaceship would break orbit without a tractor beam on board. We’re still a long way from locking on to errant shuttlecraft, ...

The science of Star Trek is (theoretically) becoming a reality. The BBC is reporting that physicists have figured out how to draw objects closer with a laser powered “tractor beam.” Researchers in ...

Tractor beams have been common in science fiction for decades. Fans of science fiction such as Star Trek or Star Wars will be familiar with the tractor beam. The tractor beam and popular science ...

‘Tractor beams’ of light that pull objects towards them are no longer science fiction. Scientists have now demonstrated how a tractor beam can in fact be realized on a small scale. 'Tractor beams' of ...

Researchers in Florida and Singapore have produced a method of dragging objects on the surfaces of fluids that they believe could lead to new techniques for micromanipulation. The team has shown that ...

Doctor Who visited Star Trek, and the crossover showed up in our reality as a macroscopic acoustic tractor beam. The newly-developed acoustic tractor beam can pull objects six orders of magnitude — ...