https://techsomogro.com/gizmos-gadgets-dewbank-harvests-water-desert-mists/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gizmos-gadgets-dewbank-harvests-water-desert-mists Science, Technology and the Future Thu, 04 Dec 2014 23:09:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://techsomogro.com/gizmos-gadgets-dewbank-harvests-water-desert-mists/#comment-13994 Thu, 04 Dec 2014 23:09:00 +0000 http://www.21stcentech.com/?p=10025#comment-13994 […] This particular beetle has the uncanny ability to obtain the water it needs to survive by collecting droplets of fog. How exactly does it do that? Droplets of fog are no more than 15 – 20 microns in diameter, so this is very difficult (wired.com). The beetle, over evolutionary time, has developed a pristine method to collect these tiny water droplets with ease.”The surface of Stenocara’s armor-like shell is covered with bumps. The peak of each bump is smooth, like glass, and attracts water. The slopes of each bump, and the troughs in between, are covered with wax, which repels water, like Teflon. As morning fog sweeps across the desert floor, the water sticks to the peaks of Stenocara’s bumps, eventually forming droplets. When the droplets become large and heavy enough, they roll down from the top of the peaks and are channeled to a spot on the beetle’s back that leads straight to its mouth” (nationalgeographic.com). There is a close up view of the beetle’s back and explanation of the physics behind this phenomenon on this page: http://artdthireault.blogspot.com/2011/08/desert-beetle-water-collection.html. There is also a diagram of what happens on the surface of the beetle’s back here: http://www.21stcentech.com/gizmos-gadgets-dewbank-harvests-water-desert-mists/. […]

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