WHAT kind of tap produces the tiniest drips? The answer is a triangular one, according to mathematicians from Harvard University. Henry Chen and Michael Brenner say their tap could increase the resolution of ink-jet printers, shrink chip components, and make biochips more accurate.
All these technologies need nozzles to squirt out minuscule droplets of liquid. Smaller nozzles produce smaller drops, but because tighter, more curved drops have a greater surface tension, it takes a higher pressure to force them out. That costs energy and tests the mechanical strength of the pipelines. Drops of about 10 picolitres (10 billionths of a…
