'Intelligent' droplet

[frankbraker]

hook a vacuum to the exit and the droplet will find its way too.

[MrGodkid]

is it the drop that is intelligent, or is it the relationship that the drop exists in that is intelligent? If you had said "We can make this drop spell the letter A" you might have come closer to the ideal you implied, which was really "intelligence you can reason with". What happens if you give the droplet a choice? Is the result average...?

[MrRapeadape]

thats not cool i can do that with my jizz

[13Cucl]

this lab is stolen from here tanktrouble :P

[Bolt588]

@13Cucl i know

[TheGuyInUrCloset]

this has to be fake, but if not, DAMN! That shits fuckin amazing!

[vonfred54]

@TheGuyInUrCloset he clearly explained how it works...

[thegimer]

chodzi o napięcia powierzchniowe wywołane przez rozpuszczone minimalne ilości żelu w wodzie, kulka tłuszczu "wędruje" po najkrótszej drodze, ponieważ na niej znajduje się statystycznie najwięcej kwasu.

This is the answer ;]

[broetchenmampfer]

How did it worked? Sorry i dont get it..

[nisbahmumtaz909]

@broetchenmampfer

Capillary action. Either that, or cohesive and/or adhesive motion.

[paulo7arjenson]

bartosz grzybowski 0:31 polacy powinni żądzić światem :-)

[mrqwertyuiop8]

fake

[aryfis]

@mrqwertyuiop8 twoja stara to fake (bez urazy)

[electricrock]

for all you dumb asses, it works by something called a PH gradient, everything has a charge, the droplet has a charge, substances with charge will migrate to an area where there is opposite charge i.e. so that it will neutralise the charge and find its isometric point (the point where there is no charge) therefore the droplet will naturally move to the exit to neutralise its charge.

[PennyDreadfuI]

The droplets will take over the earth if these guys aren't careful. BEWARE THE DROPLET!

[ZeroSumRuler]

weird!

[AdiQ0502]

Fascinating... The drop looked like a living thing!!

[wowplayer6541011]

how does it work?

I.E

how does it move (energy source)?

how does it know to turn?

please reply

[ATHEISTIQ]

yo dawg, i want dat droplitt 2 clean my hause yo.

fukin droplitts...how do they work ?

[kaminarigaston]

pH teleology

[PakiShahzadi]

will this work just as well with a larger scale model?

[84skyshe]

komórki rakowe mają niższe ph niż zdrowe, jeśli uda sie znaleźć coś co dostarczyło by lek do tkanek nowotworowych nie była by konieczna chemioterapia

[An1mePhreak]

Well it's because it's following the trial towards lower PH as the acid dissolves along the paths. But there is no denying its usefulness

[greenheadjoe]

Enlightening video.

I just realized how sentient my canned clam chowder is.

[strilight]

That's smarter than some of the people I know.

[celshader]

wow. Amazing to see such behavior in a drop of non-living matter.

Might be relevent for helping to explain how the 1st living organisms arose.

[MattIsDelicious]

Its Evil!

[KissesForMySoldier]

that was freaky and great at the same time! it's effin aive!!! lol

[lop3z9]

is it dead

[TheItalolatino]

awesome :O

[I3ipolar]

i think IDromikk is a pretty cool guy, eh states the obvious and doesn't afraid of droplet

[Wabius]

It's alive!!

[X0Pete]

does the drop cry?

[gregjockca1001]

X0Pete, it doesn't cry but it CUMS AND GOES! lol.

[austrofreak]

super!

[phillysmost1ted]

it's amazing that in navigates the labyrinth instead of trying to take the most direct rout and sticking to a wall.

[bradmanthethird]

no, because the liquid in the maze difuses the chemical at the end, so it simply moves towards a higher concentration, which would be towards the end, by the path the chemical at the end took, pretty simple really

[phillysmost1ted]

I kind of figured it was following the fumes. Still very cool.

[gregjockca1001]

bradmanthethird, if it's so simple then why don't you make one and shut the fuck up, slut.

[bradmanthethird]

i have better things to do.

[gregjockca1001]

bradmanthethird, like what, you fucking slut?

[bradmanthethird]

just about everything :/ i mean you're hard pressed to find something less important than making a drop of liquid move up a concentration gradient of another liquid disolved in a third liquid.

[gregjockca1001]

bradmanthethird, yet you're here. case in point. still stuck in the mental asylum? can't get out? have another pill.

[bradmanthethird]

well it was kind of interesting to see, but i don't think it's worth it to replicate it, it's kind of one of those things that only needs to be done once, like why would we do another moon mission? been there done that (unless we can get a moon BASE)

[gregjockca1001]

bradmanthethird, wrong fuckface. we want to colonize the moon and make an extraterrestrial robot factory.

[bradmanthethird]

and if i could use that drop thing to cure cancer i could, but since i can't i wont, and i won't bother to replicate it either, just like since i can't make a moonbase i won't bother with another moonwalk.

[gregjockca1001]

bradmanthethird, your loss, cunt.

[bradmanthethird]

by the way i know you're a troll =p

[NobleBg]

nice... i think we've been studying about these effects at school recently

[Iaxobus]

that so awesome

[IDromikk]

it doesn't actually solve the labyrinth, it just "falls down" the gradient.

[gregjockca1001]

does the drop know how to love?

[smikules]

@gregjockca1001 -- dunno I'll put it in my pooper hole and findz out!

:D

[gregjockca1001]

smikules, maybe it can be taught to find the g-spot!

[stelerscyth]

@gregjockca1001 it knows how to get to a low ph area

[gregjockca1001]

but how do you know that your g-spot is low ph?

[jasem1]

Lol. I love this comment :)

[tadzik21]

ha i jak zwykle jest polak:):D

[fabke1987]

put in a blue droplet and a red one, then race them for money

[VeryEvilPettingZoo]

Trippy

[opaz79]

can we put a tax on it?

[sOulrOckmelO]

how bout putting a sperm cell in the entrance and an egg cell in the exit. i bet it will take it 5 seconds to get through this maze.

[ulfenstyle]

ok.. that made me lol.

[asedtf]

Definition of alive is: Able to reproduce and metabolize.

Here's a little fun fact. Nature doesn't work in contrasts of alive and dead. Both are natural processes that just happen.

[blazednlovinit]

@asedtf

also, control their internal environment, grow, adapt, and respond to stimulii

[WhrsTheMoneyLabowski]

@asedtf ...there's more criteria than that...

[riff1]

@asedtf

there are computer programs that could solve this puzzle in milliseconds flat, working from nothing but scratch. "Intellegent" inanimate objects aren't alive...

[TurboDally]

The word "Terminater" comes to mind...

[Faustoteinmor]

¨Jajaa the drop can do it more fast than real humans

[TheMerlinOfAR]

The drop isnt actually intelligent, but pretty cool anyways.

[mattmax11]

@TheMerlinOfAR prove it that it's not intelligent

[blazednlovinit]

@TheMerlinOfAR thats why its in quotations

[lolep]

@TheMerlinOfAR really? like, the drop doesnt even have a brain? what a ripoff, right? we all came expecting a drop with a brain. Maybe even omniscient. Honestly, I completely agree with your disappointment.

[TheKturner05]

@balamanti2 im sorry what does this have to do with this video?

[Valvallaria]

Rofl, you really made me laugh ^^I almost though you were for real lol.

[leafyridge73]

Now thats impressive.

[monkeyology1]

Hahahah aint it? "Hey stuff just magically creates itself, there is no creator and existence is meaningless" If it is please end it soon.lol

[drakenbakken]

@hyperseauton then why the hell are you watching a newscientistvideo? also you wouldnt be on the internet then.

[oni911]

hell yeah

[hyperseauton]

I spend my time considering what God can do and am at no means impressed by what man can do, thank you very much.

[Cadena450]

@hyperseauton thats nice

[beffie1963]

@hyperseauton wow, I guess that makes you better than the rest of us.

[Snotlingfondler]

your an idiot

[colledge123]

@hyperseauton be quiet please

[Sc0ttPrian]

if there was a god, he has already done what he has to do, create man to learn and figure out how to destroy him heh heh. however evidence of his existance does not exactly exist either...

[gmerah]

@hyperseauton

I'm a firm believer in God, but that doesn't mean I should put down other people's achievement. I'm still amazed at all the inventions we've discovered.

Humans are God's creation & children. He gave us the intelligence & creativity to take what He gave us and mold it into something unique. If we discovered new things or invented new technology, is that not praise to the Lord who made us and gave us intelligence also?

[hyperseauton]

It's either way: watch?v=Gzdv2dsPPKw

I decided on God, which makes scientific achivements quite unimpressive to me. If oyu choose on godless science, yes, you commit to live without HIS grace and have, let's say an iPad or something in this life but are going to spend eternity in everlasting HELL.

You cannot sin and take the fruits of sin and then get saved without repentance and being embrace by HIS grace.

God, bless all you science folk out here at newscientist: you sure can use it!

[Fr0stBlade]

wow i feel sorry for you.. so brain washed.

[Koujinkamu]

Yeah, those godless scientists trying to cure cancer... such evil!

How do you live with yourself?

[Jaskarsis]

@djweaver64 Wow you really must be deranged. Cancer isn't great and you think that just because your "god" created (apparently) cancer is good? On that basis, is AIDS good?Is FASCISM good? Is COMMUNISM good? After all "god created everything"... So you sinners fought in vietnam against something that God created... Wow if that doesn't make you a sinner, you bunch are the biggest hypocrites in the worlds.

[djweaver64]

Guess I should have added ;-). Poe's law strikes again!

[hyperseauton]

Even on a thunderf00t or tooltime video I don't get shouted down like on a NewScientist video.

All the more reason for me to come back and spread Evangelism! It said so in the Bible that if you tell the truth people will mock and hate you for it!

"Science without religion is blind" Albert Einstein

[Koujinkamu]

Well, you get shouted down according to the level of stupid you bring into the discussion. So you got tricked by the Bible to thinking that resistance against your ideas means that you're right. You're talking like this Bible is some kind of holy book that contains absolute truth or something... and no book contains absolute truth.

[hyperseauton]

What about "Atlas Shrugged"?

[NotJames1]

Mathematics Books hold absolute truth

[blazednlovinit]

@NotJames1

not always

[Uttarayan]

the idea of god is so pitiful

are you serious ?

[mmsayre]

is this like saying electric currents or fluid flows are intelligent for finding the path of least resistance?

[KassraPirooz]

that's the smartest droplet I've ever seen.

[CBGB42]

It's obviously not alive, but that doesn't make it any less cool!

[Desarollo]

well being "alive" is really just having tons of these types of properties organized into more complex systems, and then poof, we consider it alive

interesting stuff.

[CBGB42]

Technically, in order to be considered alive, it has to be able to die and reproduce with variability.

[frankie6092]

@CBGB42 that would make a god impossible to be considered as alive lol

[Desarollo]

i know what is considered "alive" by science. i was just pointing to the still true fact that everything that is "alive" is made up of properties and materials, themselves, not considered alive.

[istewartbinks]

several other conditions play a role aswell. there are more than two.

[2Luke]

it is conscious!

[paulhallart]

This is an illustration of reason. It solves for the simplex which is almost never the real solution. The thing that makes good science is the fuzzy thinking, held in disdain by the masses. The true scientist has a penchant for astonishment in that the actual almost always defies the reason of the p.h.-variant-seeking gel-in-the-maze syndrome. Still and all, it does show some merit in having a p.h.d.

[Adsmunk]

@paulhallart What?

[paulhallart]

never mind, Adsmunk. u didn't get it.

[Paxmax]

oh, novel and cool!

[siim258]

I love this stuff on NewScientist. I love how in the end they always mention future ways of using this new and cool technology. Keep it up!

[mooxim]

that's fucking crazy

[timidgothica]

wow, hat's pretty cool.

[clanOT]

it's sped up, just dont know by how much. could have taken days for all we know.

[CamDeSchink]

I didn't know that, does this mean that varying Power of Acidity's can attract?

[Charlymaumushi]

Thats a scientific term lol BLOB

[Borridd]

That blob is haxing.

[quietthomas]

It's really just following an invisible trail leaking out from the finish-point.... still cool though (and hopefully useful).

[watermelonpizza]

HA that is AWESOME!

[CHAS1422]

The acid gel makes the pH as a gradient toward balance (7) at the end of the maze. The alkali solution (higher than 7)acts on the acidic droplet (lower than 7)but unevenly. The higher rate of reaction on the stern acts to propel the droplet toward a lower pH. If the gel at the end were highly alkali, the propulsion direction would be reversed. The reaction between acid and base is the driving mechanism for both. (just a guess)

Great experiment, thanks for posting

[singlespies]

that droplet is smarter than me:(

[andrewb58]

no its not

[tarohoa]

lol just imagine a dog following a smell, except in this case the chemical is following teh pH. and no the chemical isn't alive, but the conditions have been set so like a ball rolling down a hill. Its not weird to see a ball rolling down a hill, so think of dis the same way, but still it is interesting if u just think of it as chemicals with a mind of its own

[eSilva90]

THIS IS WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!!

[KittenzAV2]

BURN THEM ALL!!!!!!!

[gamehero77]

The Blob anyone?

[xjaskix]

i dont get it, how can a droplet KNOW where to go?

[N7a7v7i]

It doesn't, not anymore than heat "knows" how to spread evenly throughout any given area. It just takes the shortest route to get where it's going, similar to an electric current, if it helps to think of it that way. That's all it does; it's trying to get to the thing at the end, so it pushes forward until it finds the shortest way there.

[lejink]

@xjaskix its a smart droplet

[4Dmetricology]

lower thermal pressure at the oil-acid interface produces the movement? The acid reduces the local viscosity or the surface tension of the drop? These are the only available energy I see in the system.

I would like to see an analysis of the thermodynamics. Anyone?

[gamehero77]

@4Dmetricology perhaps there are strong molecular forces that attract the acidic oil like dipole dipole forces. better yet, maybe the solution at the exit of the maze dispersed through the maze and the oil goes through to the strongest concentration of the solution

[kurtilein3]

different concentrations of acid are a kind of energy.

it causes a chemical reaction to take place at different velocities in different surface areas of the blob.

[4Dmetricology]

@kurtilein3

nope.

Perhaps someone can tell me why people post guesses as though they know what thy are saying....

Anyway, the lower pH reduces local surface tension of the droplet. The droplet then flows in the direction of the area of lowered surface tension.

[beyondDMC4]

Can someone tell me why condescending arseholes like you post rehtorical questions on youtube video's? kthxbai

[4Dmetricology]

@beyondDMC4

Question was sincere, and you end up being the ass. bye hippie.

[youstupidwoman]

bhahahahahah

[LozerNumberW]

That is really cool. But I never got to see it finish! haha

[calibris]

WHAT

[D4682]

WTF

[jinnypigs4life]

This is simply amazing.

[r0b0leadr]

one step closer...

TO THE T1000!

[littlenaismith]

HAHAHA

[themightychickens]

So advanced, yet so simple

[Bokaj707]

This is so cool.

[artvandelay13]

ok so it had to go to the area of lower pH, but still, how could it "know" where that was? wasn't the polymer in between the droplet and the oil clean? so how would the droplet know where the lower pH area was beyond the rest of the maze??

[enzo83sr]

@artvandelay13 it did not "know" it was attracted. its just a reaction not a thought.

[artvandelay13]

which is why I put it in quotation marks.

[enzo83sr]

@artvandelay13 oh i see now, yeah that's a good question. you motivated me to actual read the attached article, so thanks. they explain it in the info section of this video check the link out, first page half way down.

[n14e5o15]

It was "flooded with an alkaline solution". The acid from the gel diffuses along the path from the end of the maze, so, from the point of view of the oil, at a fork in the path, the valid "branch" has a greater concentration of acid.

[sexyloser]

Yea, if they had colored the acidic solution, then this little "experiment" would have been much less impressive. The blob would just appear to be following the higher concentration of color.

[pubtor]

wow

[speedoMK]

hmm, cool :)

[brainlicker1]

creepy

[Forlo12345]

Not creepy. It is a simple, yet creative, application of science (namely, acid/base chemistry, laws of diffusion, and the hydrophobic effect of oil in water).

[brainlicker1]

For the uneducated masses like myself moving "smart" liquids r really creepy :P

[Forlo12345]

haha, yeah. It's all good.  =)

[0871356005]

amazing. i wonder if you could combine this with nano technology for efficiency.

[yusufsheth]

wow, it's unbelievable that the pH can be distinguished, even after so many corners and turns.

[larry89]

@yusufsheth

as long as it's in a contained zone, that result would have been inevitable..

[CarbonSuit]

the fact that they put it in a maze is very misleading. it might have been in a spiral and formed the same task. just moving to the low PH level.

[Reijerkolle]

the maze represents the human body in that there isnt just a single path which a liquid can take.

this test would be useless if it were just a spiral.

[CarbonSuit]

actually there isnt more than one path. it can only go to where there is lower PH. so because there is only one area where they added the low PH oil, the polymer has no option to go there.

The maze makes the experiment look more interesting but it might as well not be there at all because they only added one source of low PH.

also it wasn't a test it was a demonstration. they knew what was going to happen and added the maze in for flair.

[Reijerkolle]

well the maze represents how the human body can behave. where there are seperate paths going off different directions, but the object wont get lost.

the spiral would be useless because its already known that this material is drawn to higher ph lvls. They would just be repeating an old experiment