The behavior of fluids at the microscale can differ from 'macrofluidic' behavior in that factors such as surface tension, energy dissipation, and electrokinetics[?] start to dominate the system. Microfluidics studies how these behaviors change, and how they can be worked around, or exploited for new uses.
It is a new science, having emerged only in the 1990s, so the number of applications for this technology is currently small. However, it is potentially significant in a wide range of technologies. Microfluidics is used in the development of gene chip technology, as well as in micro-thermal and micro-propulsion technologies.
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