Researchers teach liquid to flow uphill, hope to cool future CPUs (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted March 16th 2010 4:24PM
posted March 16th 2010 4:24PM
Another day, another experimental CPU cooling method that may or may not come to pass. We've seen "thermal paste" from IBM and polyethylene from MIT, and now researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a method for coaxing water along nanometer-scale grooves carved into silicon. So hydrophilic are the patterns that water will even flow against gravity (and we've got the video to prove it). Not only are the structures so precise and nondestructive that the surface feels smooth to the touch, but they also trap photons, according to The New York Times, "so the grooved silicon appears pitch-black." And who knows? Maybe your next PC will be cooled by streams of water flowing freely inside the case. It's a nice image, anyways. Peep the video after the break to see it in action for yourself.
Meh, capillary action, wooptee doo.
@durangojim
Beat me to it!
@durangojim
Aaaah, but can it go uphill both ways?
@Blackstar
Not without shoes.
@Blackstar ....In the snow with no shoes on?
@Blackstar In its father's pajamas.
@Blackstar With a boner?
u dweebs, capillary action happens in structures, this is happening on the surface! cool... nothing cooler than water?
Lol...tissue paper?
@ninetynine99 I just try that with a thick absorbent tissue from the kitchen , same fluid behavior!
@Ahmed Alzayani
I you look carefuly (granted, it's not very obvious) you see the water doesn't "behave" the same way it does with paper in the same situation.
@ninetynine99 If the silicon is hydrophilic, then the reaction there is happening for the opposite reason wicking happens in tissue paper.
Wow! I can do that at home with a piece of string or a paper towel.
@austin1007 Wow! Your the man!
Can you do it with silicon?
Pants have just been creamed to 6.0 ghz...
Note: It is a i7 =P
Awesome...
Cool so now i can overclock to 12ghz?????
How do we know the camera isn't just upside-down?
@The Madman because the water-droplet is hanging down from the tip syringe.
@The Madman The droplet hangs downside :-P lolz
@The Madman -Water droplet hangs below pipette tip
@Wags Haha blitzkrieg reasoning domination
@The Madman
cause the water droplet at the tip of the pipet is hanging down...
Could you guys lighten up for... one second?
@The Madman Man!!! Couldn't you think your question before posting it
Hate those trolls
@johnvillar May i say that the previous comment about the "troll" (myself) was a joke, but some characters i put there aren't there... sorry
@johnvillar Man, couldn't you your grammar before posting?
It was a joke, dumbass.
@johnvillar Wait... what? Now you've confused me.
@The Madman I don't see this mentioned... but the water drop is hanging down so you know its upright! :P
@The Madman Yes... it had some "HTML"ized tags and was obviously a joke because i was complaining about my own comment... sorry for mis-posting :-(
@The Madman Yep.... sorry man... my original comment had some HTMLized tags and the second part was myself complaining about me being a troll... my bad
@The Madman
because the water droplet is hanging upside down. LOL
@The Madman Hey, how do we know that the camera isn't upside down, and the water drop isn't upside down AGAIN?? Huh? HUH?
@The Madman
It's all CGI.
@Twitchy Actually if I were to fake water going uphill, I'd probably use a ferrofluid and a small electromagnet.
I don't know if that makes it easier or harder.
@The Madman
see the droplet hanging... can u confirm entire testing environment is kept under 1G? they may have tried this in a box falling from 10,000 ft AGL...
@everybody
ok, so someone is wrong on the internet!
@Wags Wow, I haven't heard the term "pipette" for almost 15 years. :o
This is a cool concept. Water that flows up in a non-absorbent way does provide for good future application.
I was under the impression that water flowing freely through cases was problematic because all the circuits short out through the water. Would this setup feature silicon completely encasing all circuits and chips so water can be in contact with the internals? How would you handle ports and slots? I guess I'm a n00b, because this seems like it isn't solving anything to me.
@CtrlBurn
Getting water to move and containing the water are two different problems. Surely they could still cover it up even with this material.
-Taylor
I wonder if they are using the same water we are using.
@Inigo Montoya let me esplain.....No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
yes.
Cappilary Action... WOW...
Just take a piece of paper towel and dip it into water... Same thing...
@Philip Han
When you dip the end of your Miracle Shammy into a glass of water, water moves against gravity due to capillary action. It will stop when there is equilibrium between the saturation and gravity.
What you see here is water flowing against gravity. Flowing. This means that a constant flow could be maintained, a current of water effectively, taking heat upwards away from the CPU.
What's more, you wouldn't end up with a damp cloth in your neon-clad PC.
@Oli D But what would stop the production of a massive piece of this material so you can do a perpetual waterfall? that means you could do "free energy".... sounds Steorny....
@johnvillar There's still friction.
@Oli D Holy sh**. Flowing water against gravity? That's like... that's like...a tree?
Yes people, you're right - paper towel is exactly the same as nanogrooves.
@grahamj New Bounty, now with nanogrooves!
Think I'll wait for liquid helium cooling and the superfluidity goodness :)