Metajets

A team of scientists from Texas A&M University has managed to lift and direct tiny objects without touching them. And no, he didn’t do it with a spell. Wingardium leviosabut with laser technology that could power the spaceships of the future. Metajets to fly without fuel. The new propulsion tool designed by these scientists uses something known as metajetswhich is based on the combination of laser beams and metasurfaces. The latter are surfaces that contain small nanoscale irregularities that direct light in many possible directions. When light hits the smooth surface of a mirror, it just bounces back. On metasurfaces, when encountering all those little mountains invisible to the human eye, it can deviate in multiple ways. On the other hand, when light hits a surface, the photons push it slightly. The authors of this study they compare it with tennis balls bouncing on a wall. When using a lot of balls, that push can be tangible. Therefore, by shining a laser on a surface, a movement can be produced that is also directed in the desired direction thanks to those tiny pillars. The more light the better. Something interesting about metajets is that to obtain greater thrust you do not necessarily need a larger device. It would be enough to increase the power of the light. Therefore, although at the moment the experiments have been carried out with devices the size of a human hair, these researchers consider that in the future they could be scaled enough to send ships into space without the need for fuel. Climb and turn. With these experiments it has been possible to both raise the device and make it rotate in the desired direction. It is a good start for that dreamed space future. Much shorter trips. With current technologies, If we wanted to travel to the Alpha Centauri star systemthe closest to our solar system, it would take hundreds of thousands of years. Instead, these scientists calculate that, using metajets, the figure would be reduced to only a couple of decades. In astronomical terms, that’s pretty little. Beyond space. In reality, the ability to move objects without contact or fuel could have many applications here on Earth as well. For example, metajets would be useful in precision manufacturing, microrobotics and advanced detection systems. There is still much to do. Logically, having demonstrated the effectiveness of metajets in a tiny device is only a first step. There is a lot of science and a lot of time left before we can scale enough to reach space. However, as Machado said, the path is made by walking, and this has already begun to be drawn. The next step will be to test the metajets in a laboratory under microgravity conditions. Thus, we would see how they will work in space. If this goes well, little by little we would try to scale it to a larger size. Other technologies that are also being investigated may possibly arrive sooner, such as the use of engines based on nuclear energy. However, metajets are also a very interesting option for future space travel. I’m sure we’ll hear about them again in the future. Image | Harry Potter, skateboarder (Wikimedia Commons) In Xataka | How many times have we gone to the Moon and why have only 11 military aviators and one geologist set foot on it in all of history?