What starship isn't complete without it's tractor beam?  Well, maybe the Enterprise-B, but that's a different story.  Israeli scientists are working on what they call "Optical Tweezers" or Holographic Optical Tweezers (HOTs for short).  We call it a mini-tractor beam, that's right, something Geordi would have whipped up using his visor and some of Data's inner-workings.  Plus, it has the word holographic in the name.  That's like having a cellular peptide cake with mint frosting...and eating it too.  Just watch out for interphasic organisms because they consume cellular pept.... okay, maybe I took that a little too far.

According to an article on Sifynews.com, Israeli scientists have developed a new tool that uses holographic technology to manipulate up to 300 nanoparticles at a time, such as beads of glass or polymer, that are too small and delicate to be handled with traditional laboratory instruments.

"Optical tweezers," the technology behind Tel Aviv University's Holographic Optical Tweezers (HOTs), could form the basis for tomorrow's ultra-fast, light-powered communication devices and quantum computers, according to Dr. Yael Roichman of the university's School of Chemistry.

Dr. Roichman is currently using these tweezers to build nano structures that control beams of light, aiding in the development of anything from optical microscopes to light-fueled computer technology.

Dr. Roichman and her team of researchers are currently pioneering the use of optical tweezers to create the next generation of photonic devices. Made out of carefully arranged particles of materials such as silicon oxide and titanium oxide, these devices have the ability to insulate light, allowing less energy to be lost in transmission.

Dr. Roichman said: "Our invention could increase transmission speed and save energy, important for long-life batteries in computers, for instance." (source Sifynews.com)

Read the full article here.