NASA is apparently interested in the discovery.
Light flight
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have managed to float two small plastic plates with just light.
With the energy of a set of bright LEDs in a vacuum chamber, the team lured two small Mylar plates to float – a bona fide breakthrough, Wired reports, because scientists have never before been able to propel an object so large using light alone.
“When the two monsters lifted, there was a sniff between all four of us,” UPh engineering doctoral candidate Mohsen Azadi told the magazine.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have managed to make small plastic bowls float with only light. Next: Back to the future hoverboards 💡 pic.twitter.com/tPGdVLwA88
– Tony Ho Tran (@TonyHoWasHere) 14 February 2021
The Ignorosphere
If you’re hoping to pick up a power mat from Amazon soon, keep waiting. Scientists are more interested in using this technology to study the mesosphere, a high region of the atmosphere it’s hard to study.
‘Sometimes it’s jokingly called ignorosphere, ”Igor Bargatin, a professor of mechanical engineering, told UPenn. Wired. ‘We just do not have access to it. You can send a rocket for a few minutes at a time, but it differs a lot from measurements with airplanes or balloons. ”
With the recent breakthrough, however, researchers hope to develop a flight system that can transport small sensors to the mesosphere using light-powered gliding technology.
Soar over Mars
Even NASA is interested in the potential applications of the technology in Mars research – especially because the pressure in the atmosphere of the Red Planet is similar to the Earth’s mesosphere, leaving the possibility that small, league-driven levitators can help temperature and collect compilation data.
“You can only take off and go up once a day and then land again and land on your little lander,” said Paul Newman, chief scientist of Earth Sciences, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “We do not have the information on Mars. That would be fantastic. ”
Until then, we will have to prepare for the space helicopter flying on the Martian surface soon.
READ MORE: Researchers looted a small tray with nothing but light [Wired]
More about hover tech: Elon Musk says he wants the future Tesla Roadster to soar