Despite spending their lives in and around frigid water, snow, and ice, polar bears are rarely troubled by ice building up on their fur. This natural anti-icing property is one Keep reading
Tag: icing
Icicles and Impurities
In nature, icicles often form horizontal ripples along their outer surface. Researchers found that these shapes only form when impurities are present in the water forming icicles; icicles made from Keep reading
Explaining the Roaming Rocks
For nearly a century, the long meandering tracks etched into Death Valley’s Racetrack Playa remained a mystery. Clearly, some force was pushing the heavy rocks there and leaving behind these Keep reading
Dispelling Ice
In winter weather, delays pile up at airports when planes need de-icing. Our current process involves spraying thousands of gallons of chemicals on planes, but these chemicals are easily removed Keep reading
Erie Ice
Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, sees large swings in ice cover over the winter. In late January 2022, the lake was nearly completely frozen over, with 94 Keep reading
Jumping Frost
Liquid water is easily electrically charged, due to its polar nature. That’s why rubbing a comb is enough to deflect a stream of water. Ice is harder to charge, but Keep reading
Energy-Efficient Deicing
Defrosting and deicing surfaces is an energy-intensive affair, with lots of heat lost to warming up system components rather than the ice itself. In a new study, researchers explore a faster and Keep reading
Avoiding Droplet Contact
Cold rain splashing on airplane wings can freeze in instants. To prevent that, researchers look for ways to minimize the time and area of contact a drop has. Hydrophobic coatings and textures can Keep reading
Phase-Switching to Avoid Icing
Preventing ice and frost from forming on surfaces – especially airplane wings – is a major engineering concern. The chemical de-icing cocktails currently used in aviation are a short-lived solution, Keep reading
Freezing Drop Impact
At the altitudes where aircraft fly, it’s often cold enough for water drops to freeze in seconds or less. Once attached to a wing, such frozen drops disrupt the flow, Keep reading