Scientists Use Sound Waves To Levitate, Move Objects 78
sciencehabit writes "The tragic opera Rigoletto may move you to tears, but here's a more literal application of the moving power of sound. Sound waves with frequencies just above human hearing can levitate tiny particles and liquid droplets and even move them around, a team of engineers has demonstrated. The advance could open up new ways to handle delicate materials or mix pharmaceuticals."
WFT is up with the summary? (Score:2, Insightful)
Just for the record all Opera moves me tears, what the fuck is up with the middle school rhetorical flourish?
Also this is basically decades old. How much is /. getting for the clicks?
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What did you think I meant?
It's not old (Score:2)
Better summary (Score:1)
Acoustic levitation is nothing new, what they've done is found a way to move stuff around while it's levitating.
And here's a decent link for those who don't feel like contributing to someone's page counter.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/10/1301860110
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Acoustic levitation is nothing new, what they've done is found a way to move stuff around while it's levitating.
And here's a decent link for those who don't feel like contributing to someone's page counter.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/10/1301860110
I move things around on a regular basis, but only when I have a ready supply of beans.
How powerful? (Score:2)
Can the bottom of my car be a flat surface which vibrates sprayed water droplets, thus slightly levitating the vehicle and allowing forward movement via those particles?
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This is not new... (Score:3)
Sand on a 15" speaker, an amp, and a signal generator was a fixture of Hamfests in the 70's.
Ever notice how sliding a desk across a floor is really heard to do, then gets easier?
It's because it's levitating part of the mass on trapped sound waves under the sliding feet...
This is old news by now.
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Yeah i'm pretty sure it's not sound that helps you move desks.
Once you overcome static friction it becomes easier because sustaining an objects speed at x is less energy intensive than accelerating it from 0 to x.
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Ever notice how sliding a desk across a floor is really heard to do, then gets easier?
It's because it's levitating part of the mass on trapped sound waves under the sliding feet...
I don't think so. I think the desk is an example of Stick/slip [wikipedia.org], not sound wave levitation...
Of course this acoustic levitation stuff isn't new, every few years someone comes up with crap like this [livescience.com]... Or somehow suggests that similar standing sound waves which cause sonoluminescence [wikipedia.org] can be used for stuff like cold fusion.
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Poulikakos's team spent 4 years trying to budge their floating droplets from a standstill. Finally, they conceived of a chessboard-style setup with multiple vibrating plates, each generating its own sound frequency. By varying the frequency that each plate emits, they can move the acoustic field and the object trapped inside. Their new design, described online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can precisely control the lateral movement of liquid droplets while keeping them floating smoothly in midair.
Its the lateral movement and fine control that's new, not the levitation.
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...which TFA acknowledges:
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Re:Old news surely? (Score:5, Funny)
> 'people could not have moved those great big blocks such long distances!'
I always hate it when people say this, because it instantly indicates they have no idea what they are talking about.
I don't think *you* are implying this, I'm just pointing out how silly it is.
Even examining the sentence makes no sense whatsoever... 'people could not have'... People *did*. There isn't any room for 'could not have'.
Just like the t-shirt says [tshirtsiwant.com]
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Ppl couldn't have using the technology we think they were limited to. If we limit ourselves to what we think their technology was, can we recreate what they did? That's the meaning of the sentence that seems to have made you respond in such an emotional manner.
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Back in the 1990s I heard the use of sound waves to move objects proposed as one of the fringe theories for how the pyramids were built, because "people could not have moved those great big blocks such long distances!".
In other news, bumblebees cannot fly.
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Re:Sound doesnt move a thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Because resonances can often get you more bang for your energy buck than direct impulse.
That, and they want to move things carefully and precisely. This seems like it would be a lot more stable than using air flows.
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Frequency.
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Like Simon Newcombe and Lord Kelvin proving that heavier-than-air aircraft were impossible!
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We have the tech, and the ppl willing to go. Only the political will and a culture of artificial scarcity is stopping us.
In some similar research with sound and movement (Score:2)
. . . you can't beat the good old Brown Note: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_note [wikipedia.org]
Cue the wingnuts (Score:2)
Some people might think this sort of discovery will vindicate claims made by dubious inventors like Keely. Be on the look out for anyone here mentioning "vibratory sympathy".
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Why are you using ad homs instead of the scientific method?
My wife dropped a vase once (Score:5, Funny)
The sound levitated the cat about 2'.
This has been working for years already (Score:5, Funny)
Just play any, for example, Justin Bieber tune and the resulting sound waves instantly move me out of the room. Most commercials on TV work the same way, unless I'm in control of the remote.
Screwdriver (Score:2)
When will they turn screws using sound?
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Not news.. (Score:2)
we may... (Score:2)
...even be able to image human foetuses.
Sorry -- just thinking out loud.
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Could this be the technology behind The Doctor's sonic screwdriver?
Maybe prior to the reboot. But with the last few seasons, the Doctor's "sonic screwdriver" has been increasingly used as a generic device to magically resolve plot holes and compensate for poorly thought-out stories.
It used to turn screws and open locks. These days it does everything from neural force field generation to automatic computer hacking. Basically, whenever the bad guys provide a challenge that the Doctor can't solve, he just pulls the 'sonic' and ... zaaap ... problem solved!
Need a medical scann
Hovercraft Use Soundwaves (Score:1)
LCAC Beach Landing [youtube.com]
Can it levitate frogs? (Score:1)
Assuming /. readers are opera fans... (Score:1)
And here I was worried the new owners wouldn't understand the readership when DICE bought /.
reminds me (Score:2)
Move by sound? (Score:1)