Real, Actual, Functional Sonic Screwdrivers May Be Possible?

Wow.  British engineers are developing a sonic device that moves small objects around using ultrasonic forces, and they are comparing it to the sonic screwdriver used on Doctor Who, The Telegraph reports.   I'm waaaaay out of my depth here, so here's a bit from the article:

Professor Bruce Drinkwater, an ultrasonics engineer at the University of Bristol, said: “We have developed a device that allows us to use ultrasonic forces to move small objects like biological cells around to sort them or to assemble them.

“We are using quite low forces to do this because we don’t want to damage the objects we are moving, but the technology is definitely real and there is potential to turn it into something like Dr Who’s sonic screwdriver.

“If we can increase the ultrasonic force and create a rotational force, then we could potentially undo screws. Essentially what you are doing is using the ultrasonic sound wave to twirl the air around to create an miniature tornado.”

Professor Drinkwater and his colleagues have created a prototype device, which they have called sonotweezers, that uses ultrasound to move around particular sizes of cells.

Tiny crystals are made to vibrate by passing an electrical current through them, producing an ultrasonic shock wave in the air around them. This shock wave generates a force that can be used to push the cells. The size of the shock wave can be tuned to move cells of different size and so separate diseased cells from healthy ones.

Their device can also be used to separate dangerous material such as anthrax from other powder using the same technique.

Professor Drinkwater claims that by increasing the size of the shock wave and creating a rotational motion, it will be possible to create a kind of ultrasonic “force field” that would have the power to undo screws.

There are already other researchers that are working on creating rotational motion with ultrasound so it can be used to assemble delicate electronic components.

Such an odd world we inhabit.  Star Trek tech has been creeping into our lives already.  Now we're getting into Time Lord territory.  What's next?  Rooms that are bigger on the inside?  Psychic paper?  I guess it'll likely be a long time before something like this is available for consumers.  So for now, I'll keep carrying my replica.  But at least there's hope that one day I just might, upon finding myself in a jam, be able to pull out a serious sonic screwdriver and keep a straight face as I... rattle a screw loose or something.

Thanks, Doctor Who News Page, for pointing out the article.