Star Wars fans the world over are waiting in eager anticipation for the release of the franchise's final instalment: The Force Awakens. Capturing the imaginations of generations of movie-goers with its interstellar battles and futuristic technology, Star Wars is the ultimate in escapist entertainment. It appears, however, that one memorable element of the films' fiction may now have arrived on Earth. The technology behind the tractor beam, employed to devastating effect on Darth Vader's Death Star, has been created in a laboratory in the UK.

World's first sonic tractor beam:

The tractor beam on Vader's Death Star can pull in entire ships from outer space and, while this latest research is a little way off that, the findings are, nevertheless, hugely significant. A team of scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Sussex have successfully created a sonic tractor beam, which is able to suspend and move small objects around by the power of sound waves alone. Earlier research studies have concluded that the technology surrounding tractor beams is possible; however, this is the first time that an object (in this case a small polystyrene ball) has been held and moved around in the air.

Acoustic "force field":

Led by Asier Marzo from Bristol University, the team of researchers used a 4mm wide ball made of polystyrene and surrounded it with 64 tiny loudspeakers. A range of suitably high-pitched and energetic sound waves were then sent through the loudspeakers, thereby closing in around the ball. The team found that in certain frequencies, the ball was able to be lifted into the air in a kind of acoustic "force field". The next step was then to alter the levels of sound waves and in doing so, the ball could be held steadily, moved or spun around. 

What next?

Although this discovery is in its infancy, the potential implications of such technology are undoubtedly huge. According to Marzo and his team, the sonic tractor beam could potentially be used in the future in factories, where delicate or sterile items need to be moved or put-together. Additionally, the technology could have a number of uses in the area of medicine. Sound waves can travel through the human body, through blood and tissue and this means there is future potential for procedures such as moving blood clots or gallstones or carrying out targeted drug therapy by manipulating tablets inside the body. At the moment, all of these operations need to be done using surgical incisions so there would be huge advantages in terms of patient recovery, should this technology become commonplace. 

Out of this world?

Perhaps the question on everyone's lips following the release of this research, however, is altogether more otherworldly: could tractor beams ever be used in space? The answer, according to the researchers, is a confident "yes". A more powerful sonic tractor beam would almost certainly be capable of moving larger objects and as such could potentially be used to control things floating inside a zero-gravity environment, such as the International Space Station. Science fiction has just become science fact!