PAUL H STEEN: We
study droplets that
have been placed on
the surface and then
somehow put into motion.
But we also study drops
that land on the surface
and look at their motions,
because that allows us then
to make the connection between
the origin of these droplets
and vibratory motions
that we've characterized
in our periodic table.
You know, we use this
wonderful gift of nature
called hydrodynamic similitude.
This is a big name,
but it basically
says that you're able to group
a large variety of liquids'
behavior into one description.
So even though we use water
on Teflon coated surfaces,
these principles
allow us to, in fact,
guarantee that these
are going to be
relevant to a much
broader class of systems
than just what we're studying.
We expect this to be very
useful in industrial settings
where the motion--
the fast motions of liquids
coating or uncoating a surface,
advancing or receding across
a support will be important.
And those involve
many, many types,
from the making of our
semiconductor chips
to coating of
structural members that
are being protected from the
corrosion and the environment,
et cetera.
Down the line, it may be
that we can do better at,
for example, blood
splat forensics, which
is a study of understanding
where a dry piece of blood
actually came from
in a crime scene.
