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New Nanotech Fabric Never Gets Wet

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports on a simple coating for polyester that renders it unwettable — even after two months underwater it emerges dry to the touch. Water cannot attach to the new fabric thanks to nanostructured filaments and a structure that traps a constant air layer. One potential use is for low-drag swim wear."

10 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Welcome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds like my wife, Ba-ZING!

  2. Re:Is this a good idea? by Muad'Dave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wouldn't it be nasty if the outside were hydrophobic and the inside hydrophylic - your sweat would be yanked into the material and violently ejected from the other side! You'd look like your own Vegas water fountain show as you ran along.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  3. What, no snarky comment about Dune? by marquis111 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reminds me of what the Fremen used to coat their underwater water stores.

    I wonder what new and strange water behavior could be observed in a container lined in this. Would there be a meniscus -- either convex or concave -- when water was put into it? Or would the water huddle nervously in the middle, unsure of what do with itself?

  4. Re:Welcome! by telchine · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new unwettable overlords!

    It's going to make wet T-shirt competitions far less entertaining :(

  5. When it's underwater does it get wet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does the water get it instead?
    Nobody knows.
    Particle Man.

  6. Re:Is this a good idea? by srussia · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or as your name suggests it could be used to line the inside of a desert suit a la dune. Collect the moisture and recycle it.

    Forget the water recycling, Muad'Dave just invented a perpetual motion machine! Although the buttered cat may constitute prior art.

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  7. Great news for slashdotters by slashnot007 · · Score: 3, Funny

    No more wet beds! Also this will be great news for the British public restroom officials. After years of experimenting with Wax paper as toilet paper they can now go high tech. (Can anyone explain to me why on earth the british public restrooms use velum-like TP?) The downside is that now when you accidentally pee in your trowsers, instead of getting a wet spot it all ends up in your shoe.

  8. Re:Is this a good idea? by sexconker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give it to Mike Rowe.

  9. Re:Is this a good idea? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    What about oil, or grease or sticky substances in general?

    The porn industry is dying to know.

  10. Re:Welcome! by Captain+Hook · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new unwettable overlords!

    Shouldn't that be 'I, for one, welcome our new unwettable overcoats!' ?

    --
    These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.