Fluid is ratcheted through a gap between the pump’s teeth
In most pumps, either a spinning impeller pulls liquid in and then essentially “throws” it out via centrifugal force, or a rotor draws it through using peristaltic force. After studying how birds’ flapping wings use fluid dynamics to push air back while moving the animals forward, however, two scientists from New York University have developed a pump that works in yet another fashion – and it has teeth.