1. Introduction. The main purpose of this work is to reveal a paradox associated with a linearized version of a complex system of coupled differential equations frequently encountered in the recently established field of microcontinuum fluid mechanics. This is an extension of the interesting classical result of Olmstead [1], who showed that for a rather large class of approximations to the Navier-Stokes equations, the drag experienced by any body translating with constant velocity remains

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... ant under flow reversal regardless of body shape. It will be shown here that for the very same class of approximations, this paradoxical property of the drag holds for so-called micropolar fluids [2], In addition, the positivity of the drag will be established and integral representations for the velocity vector and the independent microrotation vector will be generated.