<span style="color: #222222;">Scientists have designed a way to levitate and propel objects using only light, by creating nanoscale patterns on the objects' surfaces.</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Though still theoretical, the work is a step toward developing a spacecraft that could reach the nearest planet outside of our solar system in 20 years, powered and accelerated only by light.</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Decades ago, the development of so-called optical tweezers enabled scientists to move and manipulate tiny objects, like nanoparticles, using the radiative pressure from a sharply focused beam of laser light.&nbsp;</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">This work formed the basis for the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. However, optical tweezers are only able to manipulate very small objects and only at very short distances.</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">With the new research, published in the journal Nature Photonics, objects of many different shapes and sizes — from micrometres to metres — could be manipulated with a light beam.&nbsp;</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">The key is to create specific nanoscale patterns on an object's surface. This patterning interacts with light in such a way that the object can right itself when perturbed, creating a restoring torque to keep it in the light beam.&nbsp;</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Thus, rather than requiring highly focused laser beams, the objects' patterning is designed to &quot;encode&quot; their own stability. The light source can also be millions of miles away.</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">In theory, spacecraft could be patterned with nanoscale structures and accelerated by Earth-based laser light. Without needing to carry fuel, the spacecraft could reach very high, even relativistic speeds and possibly travel to other stars.</span><br />” <br />” <span style="color: #222222;">The technology could also be used to enable rapid manufacturing of even smaller objects, like circuit boards.</span><br />