News tagged with capillary action

Hydrodynamics of writing with ink

For millennia, writing has been the preferred way to convey information and knowledge from one generation to another. We first developed the ability to write on clay tablets with a point, and then settled ...

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

How the hummingbird's tongue really works (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ornithologists first put forth the theory that hummingbirds took in nectar using capillary action (where liquid rises against gravity in a narrow tube) in 1833 and since then no one has questioned ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 03, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Capillary condensation technology produces drinkable water from diesel exhaust

(PhysOrg.com) -- Every person in the US military needs about 7 gallons of water per day for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Supplying and transporting all that water takes a great deal of time and effort ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created Apr 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast weblog

Intricate, curving 3-D nanostructures created using capillary action forces

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Twisting spires, concentric rings, and gracefully bending petals are a few of the new three-dimensional shapes that University of Michigan engineers can make from carbon nanotubes using ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 19, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Humidity makes gecko feet stickier

Geckos have amazingly sticky feet. Their stickability comes from billions of dry microscopic hairs that coat the soles of their feet. However, when humidity increases, gecko feet stick even tighter to smooth ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 15, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Radical research changes lab-on-a-chip design

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Alberta mechanical engineering professor has developed a new model that could revolutionize the design of hand-held devices that provide reliable, nearly instant medical or ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Mar 31, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

IBM scientists create rapid disease diagnostic chip (w/ Video)

IBM scientists have created a one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test, based on an innovative silicon chip, that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use, and can test for ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 0

Scientists create metal that pumps liquid uphill

(PhysOrg.com) -- In nature, trees pull vast amounts of water from their roots up to their leaves hundreds of feet above the ground through capillary action, but now scientists at the University of Rochester ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (27) | comments 22