When we say nothingness, we're really referring to the attractive force that arises between two surfaces in a vacuum, known as the Casimir force.

"If you can measure and manipulate the Casimir force on objects, then we gain the ability to improve force sensitivity and reduce mechanical losses, with the potential to strongly impact science and technology," explained physicist Michael Tobar of the University of Western Australia.

What Casimir predicted was that an attractive force would exist between two conducting plates in a vacuum, due to contrasts in quantum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field.

"These fluctuations interact with objects placed in vacuum and are actually enhanced in magnitude as temperature is increased, causing a measurable force from 'nothing' - otherwise known as the Casimir force.".

This, in turn, allowed them to manipulate the membrane with the Casimir force that arose when the gap was sufficiently small.

"Because of the Casimir force between the objects, the metallic membrane, which flexed back and forth, had its spring-like oscillations significantly modified and was used to manipulate the properties of the membrane and re-entrant cavity system in a unique way," Tobar said.