Physicists over at the Australian National University (ANU) have figured out a new technique that allows them to control water flow patterns. The invention could provide fresh ways to move objects floating in water, with the potential to revolutionise certain manufacturing processes or help control oil spills. But how do you control the waves without Poseidon's help?

Tractor beams (short for "attractor beams," which can bring one object closer to another from a distance) are a common trope in science fiction. But could they be made in real life? Researchers made news earlier this year when they created a kind of tractor beam, or "optical tweezers," that can move around nano-sized objects with light. NASA scientists are also working on a project to reel in objects with light; Australian researcher have moved small objects a total of 5 feet with lasers. Most of this work has involved light, but now, a separate group has made an acoustic tractor beam that can move much larger objects with sound waves.

NASA may be temporarily out of the manned spaceflight game, but that doesn't mean it isn't preparing to realise all of our most technologically compelling sci-fi fantasies. The agency's Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) has awarded three researchers funding to study three different means of creating a tractor beam--a ray of laser light than can trap and pull objects in the opposite direction of the beam.