New "Hairy" Material Is Almost Perfectly Hydrophobic 133
drewsup writes "Wolfgang Sigmund, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida, has created a material modeled after spider hairs that acts as a nearly perfect water-repelling surface. Quoting Science Daily: 'A paper about the surface, which works equally well with hot or cold water, appears in this month's edition of the journal Langmuir. Spiders use their water-repelling hairs to stay dry or avoid drowning, with water spiders capturing air bubbles and toting them underwater to breathe. Potential applications for UF's ultra-water-repellent surfaces are many, Sigmund said. When water scampers off the surface, it picks up and carries dirt with it, in effect making the surface self-cleaning. As such, it is ideal for some food packaging, or windows, or solar cells that must stay clean to gather sunlight, he said. Boat designers might coat hulls with it, making boats faster and more efficient.' Hairy glass, anyone?"
Hydrophopic (Score:3, Funny)
Hydrophobic (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Gore-tex (Score:5, Funny)
Al Gore is not going to be happy.
Re:Gore-tex (Score:3, Funny)
just put the spider fibres on the inside of the jacket and it repels the sweat.
Probrem solved
What's in a name? (Score:5, Funny)
Hairy and hydrophobic... (Score:3, Funny)
... I asked my cat and she somehow didn`t look surprised. How many lifes does this new stuff have?
Re:Raw Data Video (Score:1, Funny)
These are scientists, not video hardware technicians!
If you send them instructions along with a meerschaum pipe and some beard clippers as tokens of good will, they should be able to figure it out.
Re:What's in a name? (Score:2, Funny)
Hairy food packaging already exists: (Score:5, Funny)
it's called "fur".
Re:Hydrophopic (Score:2, Funny)
Sweaty, hairy, stinky people (Score:3, Funny)
Sound true enough to me. Sometimes the people who don't shower are also hairy and disgusting.
Re:Hydrophopic (Score:3, Funny)
You bring up a good point about resistance versus viscous liquids, such as oil or ink or tar.
Re:Hydrophopic (Score:5, Funny)
Best way to deal with racism is to not take racial things so goddamned seriously.
Whoa, now. This is the internet. The internet is serious business.
Re:What's in a name? (Score:2, Funny)
I don't know... Maybe the Kiwi's have an idea?
Why use spider hair (Score:1, Funny)
'A paper about the surface, which works equally well
When it seems the paper the wrote works equally well?
*ducks*
Re:Hydrophopic (Score:3, Funny)
I hate racism. I hate racists. Somebody ban this racist idiot please.
So...you're a racistist?