Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: September 7, 2014

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REAL LIFE NEWS: WATERY TRACTOR BEAM

by Hazed

You’ve all seen tractor beams in science fiction films and TV: great beams of force that allow spaceships to grapple with each other, or to shift cargo in and out of ship’s holds.

In real life, although tractor beams are starting to become a reality, they only work on a much smaller scale. But here’s a new kind of tractor beam that looks a bit more like what we’ve come to expect from the fictional kind – the difference is, it operates in water.

Using sound waves, scientists have been able to move a floating ping-pong ball around a tank of water. They can even pull it towards them.

Dr Horst Punzmann, from the Australian National University in Canberra, said, “We have figured out a way of creating waves that can force a floating object to move against the direction of the wave.”

Sounds fun, but it has serious implications because it has the potential to help contain oil spills or deal with floating debris. That could make it a very significant development indeed.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28739368

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