The 'easyJet ecoJet' would emit 50 percent less CO2 than today's newest ...
Wednesday January 19, 2005
More Images...
![]()
January 18, 2005
Deep-Sea HD TV![]()
January 17, 2005
More Aerodynamic Trucks Envisioned
Ohio State University engineers are designing super-slick, water-repellent surfaces that mimic the texture of leaves on the water lily.
The technology could lead to self-cleaning glass, the researchers say, and it could also reduce friction between the tiny moving parts inside tiny devices.
Above is a scanning electron micrograph image of the surface of a water lily leaf, also called a lotus leaf. Scientists have long known the leaf is a good model for a water-repellent surface. The leaf is waxy and covered with tiny bumps, so water rolls off.
In studying the lotus leaf, researchers realized that the same texture could be exploited to reduce friction between moving parts on machines. Small machines, such as those under development in the fields of micro- and nanotechnology, can't be lubricated by normal means.
"In general, what's good for water-repellency is good for fighting friction," said the university's Bharat Bhushan.
Just copying a lotus leaf isn't enough. Bumpy, waxy surfaces can actually become sticky under some circumstances. So Bhushan and his colleagues have built the first computer model that calculates the best bumpy surface for different materials and applications.
The idea is that dirt would slide off a window, but you wouldn't see the teensy bumps.
-- LiveScience Staff
Image credit: Ohio State University
Most Popular
- Recommended
- Commented
From the Blogs

- LiveScience Blogs
-
- The Bug Hunt Is On. Target: Marine Aliens
- HARPS Discovery - HD 40307 And Its Three Super-Earths
- Can This British Columbia Lake Tell Us Something About Life On Other Planets?
- Power Equals Positive Action But Only When Acquired Legitimately
- X Chromosome Gets Some Respect As An Evolutionary Tool
- Estrogen Therapy May Limit Strokes In Women - But The Timing Has To Be Right
- Reminder: Garth Sundem's Foolproof Equations On The Science Channel Tonight At 6PM
- The Bug Hunt Is On. Target: Marine Aliens
- 6.15.2008 | Tariq Malik
Father?s Day on Earth, in Space
t’s Father’s Day on Earth, and just in time for the seven-astronaut crew of NASA’s shuttle Discovery, which landed yesterday in... ... - 6.14.2008 | Robert Roy Britt
Cutting the Technotether That Ruins Your Life
he deluge of office and personal email and IM and texting, along with web surfing, putzing with iTunes and so on has workers increasingly distracted... ...
- 6.15.2008 | Tariq Malik






