Can you believe this?

Once again science fiction is becoming science reality.  Apparently the tractor beams we have seen in sci-fi movies are being studied by NASA.  In addition they are also partnering with a company called Arc Pax in a joint venture to attempt a tractor beam that would be used for hover boards.  This really is mind boggling.

Long known in science fiction, tractor beams may be used by NASA probes to pull in tiny particles for scientific study. “optical tweezers,” “optical solenoids,” and “Bessel beams” are each under study by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

And here is a recent informal announcement by the two entities on their collaboration:

That’s right: Arx Pax is announcing a new partnership with NASA, which wants to use hover engine technology to capture and manipulate micro-satellites. In other words, NASA and Arx Pax are going to try to create a magnetic tractor beam. A small one.

Seriously, what types of applications could more advanced iterations of a tractor beam be used for? Feel free to comment with your ideas.

thanks to gudgets.com for the great info