By Todd Allen
If you’ve watched Doctor Who at any point in the… last several decades, you’ll likely be acquainted with The Doctor’s favorite tool, the “sonic screwdriver,” which gets him out of all sorts of jams. Guess what? Scientists at Dundee University have finally gotten around to inventing the real thing.
“The sonic screwdriver device is also part of the EU-funded nanoporation project where we are already starting to push the boundaries of what ultrasound can do in terms of targeted drug delivery and targeted cellular surgery.
“It is an area that has great potential for developing new surgical techniques, among other applications, something which Dundee is very much at the forefront of.
“Like Doctor Who’s own device, our sonic screwdriver is capable of much more than just spinning things around.”
The results of the sonic screwdriver experiment are published in the American Physical Society’s journal Physical Review Letters.
“The research also forms part of a UK-wide Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council project known as Sonotweezers, which aims to bring dexterity and flexibility to ultrasonic manipulation, allowing applications in a wide range of topics including regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, developmental biology and physics.”
http://www.app.dundee.ac.uk/sonotweezers/index.php?id=14
Sonic Screwdriver video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2DfEhjipLE
Dundee University press release:
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2012/april12/sonicscrewdriver.htm
No link found for the actual research paper at Physical Review Letters.
They really should be devoting these resources to making a working TARDIS