Making water flow uphill

 

The Leidenfrost effect
[Via Boing Boing]

From Science Friday, a video by Luke Groskin about something amazing that we see whenever we cook, but rarely think about.

In the Leidenfrost Effect, a water droplet will float on a layer of its own vapor if heated to a certain temperature. This common cooking phenomenon takes center stage in a series of playful experiments by physicists at England’s University of Bath, who discovered new and fun means to manipulate the movement of water.

[More]

Really cool. They could make water droplets move in whatever direction they wanted. 

How if there were only a practical use for this.