'Tractor Beam' Inventor Arthur Ashkin, 2018 Nobel Prize Winner, Dies at 98

When Ashkin won the Nobel prize, the committee wrote he'd "invented optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, molecules, and living cells with their laser beam fingers," the Times reports.

'Tractor Beam' laser pulls, traps particles into focal point

This ability to trap biological matter saw groundbreaking practical applications through research, in addition to a deeper scientific grasp of how the basic building blocks of life behave — including DNA and other common biological systems.

At present, optical tweezers are widely produced and sold to researchers. Ashkin's "tractor beam" is made using a shining laser — which is a beam of monochromatic light — through a very small magnifying lens. The lens then focalizes the laser, drawing particles toward and trapping them within the focal point, where they can't move up, down, forward, or backward, reports the Times.

Arthur Askhin's 'tractor beam' feels like 'Star Trek'

The "tractor beam" metaphor stemmed from Steven M. Block — professor of biology and applied physics at Stanford University — who likened Ashkin's discovery to something from "Star Trek" or "Star Wars," describing them as "the closest thing to a tractor beam that humans have ever produced," the Times reports.

As technology advances at an increasing pace, it's tempting to view human advancement as a general trend on global timelines. But we should remember that — except for the advent of AI — every new piece of technology or scientific achievement is the work of passionate minds who dared to bring something only seen in sci-fi hits into the real world.