Moving Magnetically Levitating Graphite With A Laser

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This is definitely cool video of the day.

Now in a new study, researchers for the first time have used a laser to control the motion of a magnetically levitating graphite disk. By changing the disk's temperature, the laser can change the disk's levitation height and move it in a controlled direction, which has the potential to be scaled up and used as a light-driven human transportation system. Laser light or sunlight can also cause the levitating disk to rotate at over 200 rpm, which could lead to a new type of light energy conversion system.
 
Quite impressive. I would like to see what kinds of applications this might have.

Solar motors would be one, I would think.
 
You create a slightly concave, circular plane of force that follows you about and carries loads for you. The disk is 3 feet in diameter and 1 inch deep at its center. It can hold 100 pounds of weight per caster level. (If used to transport a liquid, its capacity is 2 gallons.) The disk floats approximately 3 feet above the ground at all times and remains level. It floats along horizontally within spell range and will accompany you at a rate of no more than your normal speed each round. If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you. The disk winks out of existence when the spell duration expires. The disk also winks out if you move beyond range or try to take the disk more than 3 feet away from the surface beneath it. When the disk winks out, whatever it was supporting falls to the surface beneath it.
 
Efficiency of a solar turbine vs. solar panel cell would be interesting
 
damn, I wish I had an imagination, I'd probably think up a dozen things to do with this before breakfast.
 
i wonder if this could become a new form or enhancement of generating electricity from sun?
 
I'm guessing that large scale would have issues because of the weight of the components.. but I'm sure someone more intelligent than me can prove me wrong.
 
Actually I believe that solution to the problem would be to add a magnet and create a magnetic field inside a generator when it spins. Think of it like a levitating wind turbine but without the fan blades and it uses the sun instead of the wind. The only question is how big can you make it.
 
You create a slightly concave, circular plane of force that follows you about and carries loads for you. The disk is 3 feet in diameter and 1 inch deep at its center. It can hold 100 pounds of weight per caster level. (If used to transport a liquid, its capacity is 2 gallons.) The disk floats approximately 3 feet above the ground at all times and remains level. It floats along horizontally within spell range and will accompany you at a rate of no more than your normal speed each round. If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you. The disk winks out of existence when the spell duration expires. The disk also winks out if you move beyond range or try to take the disk more than 3 feet away from the surface beneath it. When the disk winks out, whatever it was supporting falls to the surface beneath it.

If you have 1 bucket that holds 1 gallon, and another bucket that holds 5 gallons,how many buckets do you have?
 
Exactly what I was thinking. It doesn't seem very cutting edge or like any type of breakthrough.

True, as long as you glaze over the fact that this is outside a vacuum, doesn't involve thermal reactions with color, and is using graphite. Still, Crookes Radiometer's are cool :D
 
It will have alot of uses such as

1. Replace current gasoline motors in all types of vehicles ie. cars, trains, boats etc
2. Replace cranes and lifts
3. Could make skateboards cool again like back to the future movie :)

and on and on and on oh end all the wars over oil we have had since the industrial age.
 
Ummm...I was expecting something new or innovative.

The is just re-application of commonly known applied science, using heat from a light source to make an object move was being done a few hundred years or heck, possibly even a few thousand years back. The only difference is back then magnetic levitation was not commonly used and reflected sunlight was the source, instead of a laser (which is nothing new in itself).
 
i think the ufo that i saw used a technology like this. interstellar space here we come.
 
This is about as impressive as "lifters" using high voltage to create ion wind that keeps them aloft. It might look cool but it has zero real-world applications.
 
Looks neat, first thing that came to my mind when watching the video is that the laser (or sunlight) heated the object past the Curie point and as a result caused a non-uniform magnetic field to exist on the object hence pushing it.
 
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