Waterproof Butterfly Wings

The lotus leaf was thought to have the best surface for repelling water and staying dry in nature, but a team from MIT in Boston have found a superior waterproof structure in butterfly wings.

Adding tiny ridges to a silicon surface made water bounce off it 40% faster than what had been previously achieved.

Similar ridges are found in nature on the wings of the Morpho butterfly and the veins of nasturtium leaves.

By applying these patterns to metals, fabrics and ceramics, the scientists hope to inspire a new generation of moisture-resistant products – from tents to wind turbines.

Being curious people we had to test this for ourselves. For this video we used one of our butterflies that had previously died of natural causes in the sanctuary.

 

The link below also has a short explanation:

Thanks to Arti and Robin for putting this one together!