Build Your Own Death Star: How to 3D Print a Real-Life 'Tractor Beam'
Good news: You can now bring "Star Wars" to life with an actual "tractor beam" to move small objects using sound waves, in the comfort of your own home — at least if you own a 3D printer. A team of physicists, led by research assistant Asier Marzo of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, has released instructions in the journal Applied Physics Letters and on YouTube for how to create a plastic tractor-beam device. When sound waves travel through the device — a collection of carefully calibrated tubes — they become organized in such a way as to form a true tractor beam.
