New Water-Based Computer is Created with Moving Droplets (VIDEO)

Computers and water don't normally mix. Now, though, scientists have mingled the two with a new, water-based computer that operates using the unique physics of moving water droplets.

The computer is nearly a decade in the making. The droplet computer can, theoretically, perform any operation that a conventional electronic computer can do. However, it does so at significantly lower rates.

"We already have digital computers to process information," said Manu Prakash, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our goal is not to compete with electronic computers or to operate word processors on this. Our goal is to build a completely new class of computers that can precisely control and manipulate physical matter. Imagine if when you run a set of computations that not only information is processed but physical matter is algorithmically manipulated as well. We have just made this possible at the mesoscale."

So how does it work? The researchers built arrays of tiny iron bars on glass slides that look something like a Pac-Man maze. They laid a blank glass slide on top and sandwiched a layer of oil in between. They then carefully injected individual water drops that had been infused with tiny magnetic nanoparticles into the mix.

The researchers then turn on the magnetic field; each time the field flips, the polarity of the bars reverses, drawing the magnetized drops in a new, predetermined direction. Every rotation of the field counts as one clock cycle, and every drop marches one step forward with each cycle.

"Following these rules, we've demonstrated that we can make all the universal logic gates used in electronics, simply by changing the layout of the bars on the chip," said Georgios Katsikis, one of the researchers. "The actual design space in our platform is incredibly rich. Give us any Boolean logic circuit in the world, and we can built it with these little magnetic droplets moving around."

The findings are published in the journal Nature Physics.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube

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