Researchers at Aalto University have figured out how to use droplets of water to do computing. We have no idea how all this works, but the scientists have concluded that water can be used to compute information. The work, published in the Journal of Advanced Materials, suggests that rebounding drops of water can be sent along designed paths, converting this into technology. The term being used now is “Superhydrophobic droplet logic.”
The water drops behave as bits of information, allowing for elementary Boolean logic operations. This is the building block for computation.
“It is fascinating to observe a new physical phenomenon for such everyday objects — water droplets,” says Robin Ras, an Academy Research Fellow in the Molecular Materials research group.
The scientists believe that over time, the superhydrophobic droplet logic technology can be applied for simple devices that don’t require electricity or programmable biochemical analysis devices. We don’t expect this to be a part of the next iPhone, but we are excited about the idea that computers will be able to operate in any environment, including those that don’t have electricity. We also fully accept the fact that technology 50 years from now probably won’t make any sense today.
Yes, this is complicated for us to. Check out this video to understand the concept more.