Researchers manipulated water waves to move ping pong balls with a level of precision that seems straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Some patterns act like tweezers or a "tractor beam" to hold the floating balls in place on the water's surface so they do not drift away. Others cause the balls to spin about on their centres and ...

One setup featured a ring connected to 24 tubes linked to speakers emitting low-pitched sounds, creating ripples on the water’s surface. They tested floating polyethylene foam balls (4.8mm to 12 ...

The idea was inspired by earlier work involving light that was conducted by Shen Yijie. A co-lead on the new project, Yijie ...

The method involves generating and merging water waves to create complex surface patterns, such as twisting loops and swirling vortices. Laboratory experiments showed that these patterns can pull in ...

"Where would the scale tip? On the left is a steel ball, on the right a ping-pong ball," Reddit user Veiy wrote, posing the conundrum. "I think the scale would raise to the right since the [buoyancy] ...

Do Olympic water polo balls float? Balls used in Olympic water polo float, allowing easier ball movement for players. It is made of waterproof material and contains certain textures to allow players ...

Place a ball on top of the vacuum cleaner. Turn on the vacuum. Notice that the ball is floating in the air. Replace the ball with a different-sized ball or a plastic bottle. Try floating two styrofoam ...

Some patterns act like tweezers or a "tractor beam" to hold the floating balls in place on the water's surface so they do not drift away. Others cause the balls to spin about on their centers and ...