How hairdryers and balloons inspired next-level force measurements

Millions of people have kept a balloon aloft with a hairdryer or a ball floating with a hot-air cannon. But what if you were to shrink that down? Could scientists still hold something tiny from a distance with a highly sensitive force? A research team at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) has recently found that they can hold microscopic objects by manipulating fluid flows with light.