Real-life tractor beam levitates objects using sound waves
It may seem straight out of "Star Trek," but it's real: Scientists have created a sonic "tractor beam" that can pull, push and pirouette objects that levitate in thin air.
The sonic tractor beam relies on a precisely timed sequence of sound waves that create a region of low pressure that traps tiny objects that can then be manipulated solely by sound waves, the scientists said in a new study.
Though the new demonstration was just a proof of concept, the same technique could be adapted to remotely manipulate cells inside the human body or target the release of medicine locked in acoustically activated drug capsules, said study co-author Bruce Drinkwater, a mechanical engineer at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. [Watch the Tractor Beam Levitate Objects]
In the past, scientists have used everything from laser beams to superconducting magnetic fields to levitate objects. And in 2014, researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland showed that acoustic holograms that act like a tractor beam could theoretically suck in objects.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/real-life-tractor-beam-levitates-objects-using-sound-waves/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Elevating news.
"The development of an acoustic levitation test facility for cloud physics research" - S.M. 1990 MIT
Glad to see the rest of the world is catching up 
