Argonne National Laboratory Scientists Use Sound Waves to Levitate Liquids, Improve Pharmaceuticals

It's not a magic trick and it's not sleight of hand -- scientists really are using levitation to improve the drug development process, eventually yielding more effective pharmaceuticals with fewer side effects. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use sound waves to levitate individual droplets of solutions containing different pharmaceuticals. While the connection between levitation and drug development may not be immediately apparent, a special relationship emerges at the molecular level.