A chip-sized structure made of silicon nanopillars floated off a surface inside a Cornell University lab, pushed upward by nothing but focused laser light. The tiny device, smaller than a grain of ...

A laser hit the tiny black cube, and it lurched forward almost at once. That split-second jump, caught during a zero-gravity arc aboard a parabolic flight, points to a strange and promising idea for ...

Researchers at Texas A&M University have demonstrated a laser-driven propulsion system that can lift and steer tiny objects without physical contact, a step that could one day help power spacecraft to ...

Adding iron to a copper-based propellant MOF simultaneously solves its water stability problem and boosts laser propulsion efficiency, breaking a trade-off once thought inherent. (Nanowerk Spotlight) ...

Porous wood and graphene create a light-trapping propellant that enables efficient laser ablation at unusually low continuous wave intensity. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Light does not simply hit a material ...