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Lightsails could reach distant star systems

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Summary
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77% Informative

Breakthrough Starshot Initiative aims to use lasers to propel miniature space probes attached to "lightsails" to reach ultrafast speeds and eventually our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri .

Caltech has developed a platform for characterizing the ultrathin membranes that could one day be used to make these lightsails.

Researchers used nanoscience and metamaterials to control the side-to-side motion and rotation of a miniature lightsail.

They measured motions of the sail as small as picometers (trillionths of a meter ) as well as its mechanical stiffness.

They accounted for the laser beam spreading out at an angle and missing the sample by calibrating their results to the laser power.

VR Score

89

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96

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33

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formal

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English

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54

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not offensive

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not hateful

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Time-value

long-living

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