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
Tag: hydrophobic
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
How Animals Stay Dry in the Rain
Getting wet can be a problem for many animals. A wet insect could quickly become too heavy to fly, and a wet bird can struggle to stay warm. But these Keep reading
Kicking Droplets
Moving the surface a droplet sits on creates some interesting dynamics, especially if the surface is hydrophobic. That’s what we see here with these droplets launched off an impulsively-moved plate. Keep reading
Rattlesnakes Sip Rain From Their Scales
Getting enough water in arid climates can be tough, but Western diamondback rattlesnakes have a secret weapon: their scales. During rain, sleet, and even snow, these rattlesnakes venture out of Keep reading
The Sharpshooter Insect
The sharpshooter is a small, sap-sucking insect capable of consuming more than 300 times its body weight in fluid each day. To sustain that level of intake, the insect also Keep reading