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Short Sharp Science: A New Scientist blog

Wingardium leviosa! Wand used to make water levitate

Caroline Morley, online picture researcher


(Image: Dan Harris/courtesy Argonne National Laboratory)

These drops of liquid really are floating in mid-air. It's not a trick photo and they're not in the microgravity of space. But NASA does have something to do with this wizardry: an acoustic levitator that the agency originally developed is holding the droplets in place.

The levitator consists of two small speakers, one above the other, which generate sound waves at frequencies of about 22 kilohertz - slightly higher than humans can hear. When the sound waves from the top and bottom speakers are aligned they create a standing wave. At the nodes of this wave there is no net transfer of energy and pressure from the sound waves cancels the effect of gravity on light objects like these drops.

This technique has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois as part of a search for methods of "containerless processing" for drug development. When extracting pharmaceuticals from solution in a container, the chemicals often take their crystalline form. Take away the container, though, and many drugs retain an amorphous structure, which allows the body to absorb them more efficiently. This in turn means they require smaller doses to be effective.

"One of the biggest challenges when it comes to drug development is in reducing the amount of the drug needed to attain the therapeutic benefit, whatever it is," said Chris Benmore, who led the study. The levitating liquids can also be probed in situ with high-energy X-rays so the team can watch chemical processes in the levitating liquids.

See it happening live in this video:

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I'd love to see a video of this in action.


Your wish is our command.


Many thanks! It's quite surreal.

Levitation is one of those subjects which has an instant appeal to just about everyone. The fact that something out of the norm is occurring in the immediately visible environment rather than at the Planck scale makes it all the more fascinating.


Now, the next stage is to scale the power levels up, using modulated electromagnetic radiation, so that th air can be removed as well, then the radiation can be used to also contain the material with whatever pressure and temperature is required. Next stage after that is to use existing announced reversed light path calculations (inverse holograms for those wishing to show new technology is actually 50 years old), and that MIT demonstrated optical lattices, to generate holograms of the molecula structures required, leading to the first prototype atomic level replicators.

Theres no problem needing a gravity free and pure vaccuum region for assembling atoms to build objects, if you dont forget in part of the design to add in an upward thrust to float the atoms, then use another subsection to hold all the air molecules back from the region required, starting at the centre and sweeping outwards for those about to ask, so how do you get the air out.

If you want to build a vaccuum chamber, its easier to start with a zero volume chamber first, then expand.

Now, what was it about acoustic interference patterns, quantum logic computations, and wave tanks in physics classrooms in the 1970s?




I want this.


Now we know how the Lord split the Red Sea...



suggestion: the film should end with the sound being turned off letting the water drop from its levitating position ....


We are one step closer to Blitzball. Not sure whether to cry or cheer.

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