Designing a Computer That Runs On Water

A new class of computers can control and manipulate matter through a synchronous computer that operates using moving water droplets.

Kristopher Sturgis

It's usually not a good idea to get computer electronics wet. But researchers at Stanford University are building a synchronous computer that's powered by moving water droplets. The resulting machine not only can process information but also manipulate matter.

While the computer does operate at significantly slower rates than a typical computer, its designers' goal was simply to create a machine that can precisely control droplets using fluidic computation, a discovery that could lead to applications in high-throughput biology and chemistry, as well as possible applications in digital manufacturing.

The novelty of the machine is centered around a rotating magnetic field that acts like a clock to synchronize all the droplets. The group explained that clocks play an integral role in nearly every modern convenience, from smartphones and airplanes, to computers and TVs. Most of these computer programs operate on a series of simultaneous operations, all functioning seamlessly through the use of a clock, ensuring that each operation stops and starts at the precise moment it's supposed to.

While most of the focus in cutting-edge computer engineering has focused on advances in quantum computing, the group of researchers at Stanford began creating their machine because of the possible implications it could have on the physical world. The physical aspects of bits of information haven't ever really been exploited as a means to manipulate matter at the mesoscale (10 microns to 1 millimeter).

The group believes that because the system is so robust, and the team has uncovered universal design rules, they believe they can create a design tool for the droplet circuits, making them available to the public. Such a tool would enable any group of people to piece together their own logic blocks and allow them to create any complex droplet circuit they desire.

The group explained that one of the biggest potential applications of the technology could be in biology labs around the country, as the computer itself can become a high-throughput chemistry lab. This would enable researchers and lab techs to avoid running reactions in bulk test tubes, and instead use each droplet to carry some chemicals and become its own test tube, as the droplet computer offers unprecedented control over such interactions.

When examining the significant advances in technology in recent times, digital computation has staked its own place among the elite. Researchers at Stanford are hoping to bring the same kind of advances into the world of physical computation, and believe this machine could be a large step in that direction.