The BBC reports that gravity can be overcome, at least by water droplets self-propelled by steam. The steam is generated as the droplets move over a hot surface.

The movement is possible because of a special “staircase” designed to take advantage of the characteristics of water. Essentially, the staircase is comprised of metal sheets with precise grooves carved into them.

So what? You may be asking. The point of the experiment was not to move water uphill but rather to figure out a way that the random motion and energy of hot steam molecules could be turned into a directional force.

Like so many scientific experiments, the applications may not be readily apparent. But consider this: one of the greatest challenges in making computer chips ever smaller is the disposal of waste heat.

As a given amount of electricity moves through the circuits, a certain percentage of it is expressed as resistance, which translates into heat. If this heat builds up, it can damage the circuits.

The ultimate solution to this problem will be superconductivity, which generates zero resistance and therefore zero waste heat. Unfortunately, while research has made some important breakthroughs in high temperature superconductors, it’s still not close to being applicable to the micro-world of integrated circuits.

Back to the directional droplets. When they are close to a surface that’s hot enough, the bottom portion of the droplets boils. There’s no need for contact with the surface itself.

This is similar to what happens when you toss a few drops of water onto an overheated stovetop pan. The difference is that sawtooth-shaped grooves cause the steam to move in one direction, and it carries the droplet along.

Droplets can also climb over steps, and up inclines of up to 12 degrees. Filmed with high-speed cameras, the droplets appear to take on a life of their own, sliding along like sloppy amoebae.

Although the original intention was to devise an arresting demonstration of how random energy can be rectified into directed motion — the focus of Dr Linke’s main work is with molecular motors – the researchers now think there may be a use for the effect in cooling computer microchips.

The electrical currents now passing through microprocessors are so large the heat they generate can limit computing performance.

Many chips have cooling circuits nowadays, but these require pumps to drive the coolant, which in turn generate even more heat.

Dr Heiner Linke, professor of physics at the University of Oregon, designed this tiny apparatus with an eye toward control of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and nanotechnology-sized motors.

However, he believes that most practical application may be in causing coolant for microcomputer circuits to flow automatically.

He reportedly said, “It would be very neat if we could use the heat from the chip to be the pump, because you would not need any additional power, but also because the pumping only happens when the thing is warm; it would also be a thermostat at the same time. So it would all be in one package.”

What are some other uses of this? Not only integrated circuits, but also all kinds of nanotechnology-sized machines are likely to have cooling issues. In particular, such machines are capable of operating at speeds many thousands of times faster than equivalent machines built at room sizes.

Such fast operation will generate frictional heat.  If a liquid that’s part of the system can be made to transport the heat away it will increase the lifespan of these tiny machines and therefore their uses.

One example would be in nano-sized biomedical devices.

On a larger scale, this new technology may enable a vastly superior radiator design for vehicles — one that’s both more compact and more efficient.

I’m watching several companies with nanotechnology applications that may benefit from an improved cooling technology.

To your profitable future,
Jonathan Kolber
July 4, 2007

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