Scientists at Rice University, the University of Swansea, the University of Bristol and the University of Nice – Sophia Antipolis have developed a new class of hydrocarbon-based material that they say could be “greener” substitute for fluorocarbon-based materials currently used to repel water.

The superhydrophobic coating, seen through a scanning electron microscope

Rice chemist Andrew Barron led the research. He says the team took inspiration from the lotus leaf – one of the most hydrophobic (water-repelling) surfaces known – which is actually made up of a hierarchy of double structures on the microscopic and nano scales. Read more

Adam Summers, a specialist at Washington University (USA) have started to implement a large-scale project, which will help to understand the structure of all known fish species and features of their biomechanics. To do this, the scientist will receive up to 33 000 images with the help of a computer tomography.

Summers first time applied the scanner to find out what was inside the cartilaginous skeleton of eagle ray. At the moment, already 540 species of fish are digitized, the biologist puts all the images on the Web, where they can be downloaded for free. Read more

Engineers at the Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) have developed graphene-based biofoam sheets that can be laid on dirty or salty dams and ponds to produce clean drinking water, using the power of the sun. This new technique could be a cheap and simple way to help provide fresh water in countries where large areas of water are contaminated with suspended particles of dirt and other floating matter.

A new system of bi-layered biofoam may provide the means to purify vast bodies of water simply by overlaying them with sheets of this new material

The biofilm is created as a two-layered structure consisting of two nanocellulose layers produced by bacteria. The lower layer contains pristine cellulose, while the top layer also contains graphene oxide, which absorbs sunlight and produces heat. The system works by drawing up water from underneath like a sponge where it then evaporates in the topmost layer, leaving behind any suspended particulates or salts. Fresh water then condenses on the top, where it can be drawn off and used. Read more

You’ve likely heard of snow lines here on Earth. They’re the places on mountains above which there is an eternal blanket of the white stuff. But newly forming stars have a snow line too. It’s the line where water vapor gets far enough from the heat of the star to form ice crystals around dust particles, and we usually can’t see it, even with our most powerful telescopes. Thanks to one particular stellar outburst however, the line was pushed about 13 times farther out than usual, allowing the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to pick it up.

An artist’s impression of what the water snow line would look like

ALMA – an array of 66 radio telescopes in Chile – picked up the snow line around the star known as V883 Orionis. This relatively young sun can be seen from Earth in the constellation Orion and is approximately 1,350 light years away. While only 30 percent larger than our Sun, V883 Orionis has recently begun to appear 400 times more luminous to observers here on Earth – and it’s also gotten much hotter. This has happened because debris from what’s known as the protoplanetary disc – the swirling band of gas and dust surrounding a young star – has fallen onto the star’s surface. It’s kind of like throwing a bunch of dry leaves on a campfire. Read more

In a bid to help bring greater access to clean drinking water to the developing world, WaterStillar has created a solar-distillation system designed to produce clean drinking water from almost any source. Conceived as a cheap, efficient, modular system that can be scaled up to produce thousands of liters per day, Water Works is installed with no upfront costs and requires minimal maintenance or training to operate.

The WaterStillar Water Works was first conceived in 2004. Like nature’s water cycle, it works by heating water until it evaporates and condenses to rid it of any contaminants. Read more