Rubbing a balloon on your hair can build a significant electrical charge. Water droplets have the same issue when they slide across a hydrophobic, electrically-insulated surface. A new study models Keep reading
Tag: hydrophobic
That Drain Life
No matter your cleaning habits, it’s possible to get some unexpected roommates. This variety is the drain fly, a species well-adapted to the moist environment of our pipes. As larvae, Keep reading
Scuba-Diving Fly
Mono Lake, three times saltier than the ocean, is an extreme environment by any measure. But for the alkali fly, it’s home. This extremophile insect dives into the lake, protected Keep reading
Drag Is Greatest Before Submersion
A new study shows that partially submerged objects can experience more drag than fully submerged ones. This unexpected result comes from the excess fluid that piles up ahead of the Keep reading
Cleaning the Skies
Those of us who live in urban environments have experienced the clear, pollution-free air that comes after a rainstorm. But how exactly does rain clean the air? Air pollution typically Keep reading
Fire Ant Rafts
When you run into a fire ant, you’re in for a bad day. But if you run into a colony-sized raft of fire ants, well, that’s going to be a Keep reading
Free Contact Lines
How a simple drop of water sits on a surface is a strangely complicated question. The answer depends on the droplet’s size, its chemistry, the roughness of the surface, and Keep reading
Anoles Revisited
Longtime readers may recall seeing this little bubble-crowned anole previously. This species dives underwater to escape predators and will breathe and rebreathe a bubble of air for as much as Keep reading
Hydrophobic Ice
Water is an endlessly peculiar substance, eager to adopt many configurations. Each molecule can form up to four, highly-directional bonds. In this study, researchers found an unexpected configuration, a 2D Keep reading
The Two-Faced Splash
The way a sphere enters water depends on its size, speed, and surface properties. A hydrophilic (water-attracting) sphere behaves differently than a hydrophobic (water-repelling) one. But what happens when the Keep reading