Researchers have mimicked the abilities of the Namib beetle, whose bumpy shell is able to draw all the water it needs from periodic, foggy wind in deserts, in order to create new technology for the operation of thermal power plants, desalination and air conditioning systems.
According to BBC, the team of researchers mimicking the beetles remarkable abilities have been able to create drops of water that grew larger as temperature increased.
What makes the beetles shell so special is the way in which it is able to grab what little moisture there is out of the hot desert air and utilize for its own purposes. This type of ability would be invaluable in many contexts for many reasons.
Just how does the beetle go about accomplishing this remarkable feat? It all has to do with the arrangement of physical bumps on the bug’s back.
While recreating this ability, scientists borrowed from cactus spines — another remarkable adaptation to harsh, dry environments — in order to guide the transport of the harvested water drops.
The study indicates that water drops grew six times more quickly on this surface and was able to collect and transport far more water in a shorter amount of time than other materials.
“We experimentally found that the geometry of bumps alone could facilitate condensation,” said Kyoo-Chul Park, a postdoctoral researcher and the first author of the paper.
According to the researchers, the way in which this method develops larger water drops in dryer, high temperature environments could have a big impact on power generation.
“Thermal power plants, for example, rely on condensers to quickly convert steam to liquid water,” said another author, Philseok Kim.