Of Ballistospores and Superhydrophobic Surfaces
What do spore-launching mushrooms have in common with highly water-repellent surfaces? This is the question asked by Richard Merritt in his article, Mushrooms, Water-Repellants More Similar Than You Think.
According to Duke University engineers, the answer is “jumping” water droplets. As it turns out, the same phenomenon that occurs when it’s time for certain mushrooms to eject spores also occurs when dew droplets skitter across a surface that is highly water repellent, or superhydrophobic. Using a specially designed high-speed camera and microscope set-up, the engineers for the first time captured the actions of tiny water droplets on a man-made superhydrophobic surface, and to their surprise found that the droplets literally jumped straight up and off the surface.
More on ballistosdpores:
Looking for a Wikipedia article desperately in need of improvement? Ballistospore fits the bill.
The captured launch of a ballistospore
Three videos of spore discharge posted at Fungal Visions
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