New "Hairy" Material Is Almost Perfectly Hydrophobic

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?"

Comments

Re:Hydrophopic

[TheCarp]

> It's great that we realise this, but how about we look at why the fuck someone has a need at pissing off > people and being a 'troll'?

> I'm not a fan of the excessive PC tripe either, and when I was a little less mature I was angry at
> people for being overly sensitive and not allowing me to discuss taboo subjects, but that doesn't mean
> that attempted attention grabbing propaganda through a "door in the face" methodology is appropriate.
> Learn some tact and patience and address the issue earnestly please.

Actually, reading his response shows quite a bit of tact and patience.

I don't know about you, but, I got a good chuckle out of the troll. Thats the thing though, nobody really complains about a lot of nonsense posts if they are genuinely funny. I am glad to see we have a community where people can and do just post what comes to their mind, even if it is just a joke.

Many things will offend someone, but something like this can actually start a discussion that is, in some small way, useful. Where else do you see issues of political correctness really being brought up and discussed in a rational manner? Not until someone comes out with something that has offensive tones.

Without someone pushing the boundaries, how does anything move forward?

In short, fuck em if they can't take a joke, seems reasonable to me.
-Steve