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[Nhranaghacon]

It's time to scale up

Amazing.

Researchers Levitated a Small Tray Using Nothing but Light

One day a “magic carpet” based on this light-induced flow technology could carry climate sensors high in the atmosphere—wind permitting.

www.wired.com

Light-induced flow, or photophoresis, isn't a breakthrough on its own. Researchers have used this physical phenomenon to
float invisible aerosols and sort particles in microfluidic devices. But they have never before moved an object big enough
to grasp—much less lifted anything that can carry objects itself.

And it worked. “When the two samples lifted,” Azadi says, “there was this gasp between all four of us.” The Mylar plates, each as wide as a pencil’s diameter, hovered thanks to nothing but the energy from the light below, according to a paper published today in Science Advances.

Their simulations estimated that a 6-centimeter plate could carry 10 milligrams of cargo

https://media.wired.com/clips/60257f6a249fca1b3489128c/master/pass/Science_lev_azadi4.mp4.mp4

https://media.wired.com/clips/60257f6cb2bf13443c5eef0e/master/pass/Science_lev_azadi3.mp4.mp4

 

[Tranquil]

10 milligrams? I mean that's great and all but I want hovercrafts.

Do better.

 

[BigBooper]

Don't really understand the significance I guess. Sure it's cool, don't get me wrong there, but we've known light was made up of particles for a while now. I wonder what the energy cost to get that to move is compared to picking it up, blowing it, electric conveyance, etc.

Maybe it will inspire creativity in other ways though.

 

[Rentahamster]

Oh boy oh boy

Light bridge

“I’m showing a lot of photonic activity. The excited photons have displaced the air around the light path.""Which means?""Which means that the light has become coherent. Solid.” Light bridges, also known as hard light bridges or energy bridges, are examples of advanced Forerunner technology...

halo.fandom.com

 

[triplestation]

i got a hypothesis

 

[Nhranaghacon]

10 milligrams? I mean that's great and all but I want hovercrafts.

Do better.

this research is only 1% complete, if you apply non linear exponential gains it is only 7 exponential improvements away from 100% which means a massive increase in size and weight ratios. Exponentially massive.

 

[INC]

We use light move satellites in space, with solar sails already, dont we?

Or am I thinking of a film lol

 

[Tranquil]

this research is only 1% complete, if you apply non linear exponential gains it is only 7 exponential improvements away from 100% which means a massive increase in size and weight ratios. Exponentially massive.

I see

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Very cool early breakthrough. This is, however, much like the "teleportation" of two particles breakthrough from a few years ago. Yeah, it's teleportation, but we're a long way from moving objects from one spot to another.

 

[Nhranaghacon]

I thought it was worth bumping because, well... essentially no object with such mass has ever been able to float with such little energy expelled.

Granted, this is utilizing nanotechnology that reorders itself into an array permitting the object to float (and carry up to 10 milligrams, amazing) sort of like a hot air balloon uses hot air, but this uses next to zero energy or only the energy transmitted by the light source and allows direct precise control of the objects flight path.

Essentially, this object could theoretically move as fast as the light is able to traverse from point a to point b. Example, point a laser at one area with the plate - then flick the laser to somewhere completely in the opposite direction and the plate would theoretically follow and drag itself to that light path instantaneously.

And this isn't even nanorobotics; just a nano fiber that changes form once light and heat dimensions are applied.

As it was a controlled test, this specifically means the scientist's involved aimed to ensure it was feasible to guide and float an object just large enough to grasp, and as such created the test with minimal parameters and probably next to zero resources... just for this prospective testbed.

Once larger equally ambitious teams are applied and added to the loop... this technology should develop rapidly.

 

[Redneckerz]

I can levitate that same tray using nothing but my own body part, and it will be levitating higher than just 6 centimeters.

Spoiler

It will be 7 centimeters.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Read the paper and see how much energy it took to produce that light.

 

[Nhranaghacon]

Read the paper and see how much energy it took to produce that light.

This used an array of LED lights, standard LED's. While it does not specify energy throughput LED's are typically the most efficient type of light source one could utilize. As standard, this test specifies it increased the brightness of LED's to brighter than sunlight levels after running the LED's at standard lower brightness levels - brighter than sunlight is a term that means even in direct sunlight, the LED's will typically be bright enough to see in glaring sun. So the cost per LED and energy ratio was effectively very low in standard testing.

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[Nhranaghacon]

To underscore this breakthrough further, the nano engineered substrate in use is essentially as light as plastic wrap, stronger... weighs 1 to 2 'miligrams' and carries a 10 milligram load.

That's 2 inches of plastic wrap squared, levitating a 10 milligram load.

Amazing.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

This is a real tech change. It will eventually affect so much. So many applications if/when it can scale up.