Turns out hitting nano-particles of SILVER and GOLD with a LASER like you saw in Star Trek actually looks cool and heals humans just like it did in the episodes. Kinda...
From source:
Silver nanoparticles are excellent for killing germs but they often have a
drawback. The particles tend to conglomerate, which lessens their antibacterial
abilities because the surfaces become less exposed. Scientists at Kumamoto
University, Keio University and Dai Nippon Toryo Co., Ltd., in Japan tried to
solve the problem by coating the particles with gold. While this broke up the
conglomerates it lessened the silver’s antibacterial properties as the gold blocked
silver from reaching the bacteria.
What did help, however, was hitting the silver-gold nanoparticles with pulsed
laser beams.
The laser pulses changed the shape of the silver-gold nanoparticles from
triangular to spherical due to the metals melting from the laser pulse’s heat.
Before being showered with laser pulses, the nanoparticles were about half
triangular and half spherical. After being lased, the particles were 94 percent
spherical. This shape allowed more of the silver to come in contact with the
bacteria. The researchers also believe that the laser produced defects in the gold
coating’s structure that allowed more silver ions to escape, further increasing the
silver antibacterial action.
Read more here:
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/NR/C7NR06513B#!divAbstract
Commentary: Doesn't it seem like more and more we saw in sci-fi movies is actually becoming a reality? Whats next? The Jetsons?
Source:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Star Trek
The Silver Institute
