Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Make Water Run Uphill

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the flee-little-droplets-flee dept.

redshadow01 writes to mention a BBC story about scientists flouting the laws of physics for fun, and profit. From the article: "The US scientists did the experiment to demonstrate how the random motion of water molecules in hot steam could be channelled into a directed force. But the team, writing in Physical Review Letters, believes the effect may be useful in driving coolants through overheating computer microchips."

7 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Not flaunting, FLOUTING by mrjeff3000 · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/flaunt.html ("To flaunt is to show off: you flaunt your new necklace by wearing it to work. "Flout" has a more negative connotation; it means to treat with contempt some rule or standard. The cliché is "to flout convention." Flaunting may be in bad taste because it's ostentatious, but it is not a violation of standards.") (That is all.)

  2. Maxwell's demon? by Toba82 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Has Maxwell's demon been discovered?

    --
    I pretend to know more than I really do by mooching off google and wikipedia.
  3. Another way to do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Whitesides made water run uphill 14 years ago! He used a different "trick" though: he made a surface that was very hydrophobic on one side, and very hydrophilic on the other. A drop of water feels this gradient and moves towards the hydrophilic side, even if it happens to be uphill. The energy comes from the surface tension of the drop (it relaxes as it moves).

    http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992Sci...256.1539C

  4. Re:British vacuurm cleaner builder did this alread by KylePflug · · Score: 3, Informative

    Except the American version actually flows uphill, and Dyson's version is just an illusion. Thanks for playing, though.

  5. Re:WTF.. by Mike+Quin · · Score: 3, Informative

    That was really just an optical trick - the water flowing 'up' the ramp was actually flowing down it, with bubbles underneath the ramp giving the appearance of motion in the other direction.

    see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3046791.stm

  6. Links with information... by Mike+Peel · · Score: 5, Informative
    Why doesn't the article link to pages with more information that just a summary?


    Incidentally, this news dates from the end of 2005 - so slashdot is running 4/5 months behind the times.
  7. Re:So what by rockwood · · Score: 4, Informative

    There at least 22 other net-documented places that this occurs. Rolling Uphill Illusion . The 'local' location to my residence is Gravity Hill, PA . These locations are well documented and explained in detail. Furthermore the fifth picture from the top shows where the street has been tagged as well as the starting point.

    --
    Never try to beat a professional at his own game!