Pitcher plants often entice their insect victims with sweet nectar before trapping them in inescapable viscoelastic goo. But some species go even further. Nepenthes gracilis, a species native to Southeast Keep reading
Tag: rain
Rainfall Beyond Earth
Rain is not unique to our planet: Titan has methane rain and exoplanet WASP 78b is home to iron rain (ouch). A new study examines rainfall across planets from the Keep reading
How Rain Can Spread Pathogens
Rainfall can help spread pathogens from an infected plant to healthy ones. This transfer can happen both through droplets and by dry-dispersal of pathogen spores (top). When a raindrop hits Keep reading
Water Impacts
In the clean and simplified world of the laboratory, a droplet’s impact on water is symmetric. From a central point of impact, it sends out a ring of ripples, or Keep reading
Rivers in the Sky
The water cycle is quite a bit more complicated than what we learn in elementary school, and the environment around us contributes to that cycle in invisible but vital ways. Keep reading
The Actual Shape of Raindrops
If you imagine the shape of a raindrop, you probably think of a tear drop shape, but the reality of rain is much more complicated. It’s Okay to Be Smart Keep reading
Rain on Car Windows
As a child, I loved to ride in the car while it was raining. The raindrops on the window slid around in ways that fascinated and confused me. The idea Keep reading
“Monsoon IV”
It’s a cliché to claim that the sky is bigger in the American West, but the wide, open views in that region do offer a very different perspective on weather. Keep reading
Creating Clouds
Despite their ubiquity and importance, we know surprisingly little about how clouds form. The broad strokes of the process are known, but the details remain somewhat fuzzy. One challenge is Keep reading
How Rainfall Can Spread Pathogens
Rainfall may provide a mechanism for soil bacteria to spread. A new study examines how raindrops hitting infected soil can eject bacteria into the air. When drops fall at the rate Keep reading