Forget science articles from non serious science sources. They are misleading to say the least.
Basic Science
The two attractive forces that can work from distance are electromagnetism and gravity. So if you want any tractor beam you must use one or both.
Unfortunately neither can be directed (as far as we know) and they "spread" in all directions meaning you cannot select a specific object and pull it. You will affect anything in range in the same way.
Also gravity cannot be created (as far as we know). An electromagnetic field can be created by an electric current. So a tractor beam is most likely to be a big electromagnet.
Electromagnet attraction doesn't work on everything.
Also you will need a lot of energy to create a strong enough effect.
In space note that your ship attracting another object will make both to move as by <PERSON>'s third law.
Finally consider that if you need to grab something in space to your spaceship it can be a lot easier just to use some kind of "crane". 947
The means to attach to the target can be by harpoon (but can damage the target), suction (very hard in space without an atmosphere and also needs a smooth target surface) or electromagnets (needs a iron-like object and can damage/impair sensible electronics)
The next cool option
Maybe a good and cool option is to use space drones. A swarm of small rocket robots can move far away from your spaceship and grab things for you. But remember it's not that easy to move a complex object like ISS without it starting to rotate and derive in funny ways.
Laser pulling particles
There are some claims in that but let's read it carefully.
Those devices work by heating one side of the particle so air in contact with that particles ascends and this movement pulls the particle (like a miniature vacuum). It don't works in space and is limited to very small targets. A bigger laser to move a big object is more likely to use enough energy to burn it.
Note: high potency lasers work by just reducing it's pulse duration to a fraction of second. The shorter the pulse, the higher the potency using the same energy amount. This means to continuously fire a high potency laser needs a huge amount of energy 574