Be careful taking a deep breath outside today. You might accidentally inhale someone\u2019s radio antenna.<\/p>\n
It sounds like a cartoon gag, but engineers just proved it in a lab.<\/p>\n
They just built a working antenna out of thin air. A high-energy laser turns an invisible column of atmosphere into a conductor that broadcasts radio signals.<\/p>\n
To feed it without touching it, they shoot the beam through a copper ring, jumping waves across empty space.<\/p>\n
Turn off the laser, and the antenna dissolves back into breathable air. https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/11674160<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83c\udf1f How a \u201cLaser Antenna\u201d Works.<\/p>\n Normally, antennas rely on metal conductors because their free electrons can carry and broadcast electromagnetic signals. In this study, scientists used an intense beam of light to ionize the air, creating a plasma filament (a glowing string of charged gas).<\/p>\n Because this filament has mobile electrons along its outer edges, it mimics the behavior of a traditional metal wire, giving it all the basic ingredients needed to act as an antenna.<\/p>\n