Science of building sandcastles finally understood

Water vapor from ambient air will spontaneously condense inside porous materials or between touching surfaces. But with the liquid layer being only a few molecules thick, this phenomenon has lacked understanding, until now.

How the legs of water striders repel water

(Phys.org)—Materials scientists study biology at nanoscale in order to incorporate mechanical solutions to problems that have already been resolved by evolution. This biomimicry is evident in much recent technology, including ...

Jumping droplets help heat transfer

Many industrial plants depend on water vapor condensing on metal plates: In power plants, the resulting water is then returned to a boiler to be vaporized again; in desalination plants, it yields a supply of clean water. ...

Self-filling water bottle takes cues from desert beetle

(Phys.org)—Biomimicry is the term given to using nature as an inspiration for sustainable technology ideas, and a young company has joined the biomimicry brigade with its prototype self filling water bottle, which mimics ...

A nanokelvin microwave freezer for molecules

When a highly diluted gas is cooled to extremely low temperatures, bizarre properties are revealed. Thus, some gases form a so-called Bose-Einstein condensate—a type of matter in which all atoms move in unison. Another ...

Physicists create compressible optical quantum gas

Researchers at the University of Bonn have created a gas of light particles that can be extremely compressed. Their results confirm the predictions of central theories of quantum physics. The findings could also point the ...

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