{"id":1358,"date":"2010-10-21T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2010-10-20T23:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/?p=1358"},"modified":"2010-10-26T15:30:40","modified_gmt":"2010-10-26T04:30:40","slug":"1358","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/features\/1358\/","title":{"rendered":"Desert beetle aids breakthrough in water collection"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1359\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 605px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1359\" title=\"stenocara\" src=\"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/stenocara.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"605\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/stenocara.jpg 605w, https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/stenocara-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/stenocara-119x74.jpg 119w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A member of the Stenocara genus. Image: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Inspired by the biological structure of the desert-dwelling Stenocara beetle, University of Sydney researcher Dr Chiara Neto&#8217;s groundbreaking water collection technology could soon bring relief to drought-stricken areas.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A research paper published by a zoologist back in 2001 became the unlikely catalyst for Dr Neto&#8217;s decade-long research project on water collection techniques. &#8220;The idea explained in the paper was that the Stenocara beetle used a particular kind of chemistry to collect water. It lives in a very arid area. In order to survive [it] collects water by placing its back towards the fog at dawn,&#8221;\u009d explains Neto.<\/p>\n<p>The beetle, the study confirmed, can survive by a unique process of condensation, aided by small, water-loving (hydrophilic) bumps spread on a water-repellent (hydrophobic) shell. Water droplets forming on the shell could slowly grow in size and would later be drawn into the bumps to provide the creature with hydration.<\/p>\n<p>Neto and her team have successfully devised a way of synthesising polymeric material to replicate this water-gathering method in a way that could be used cost-effectively, on a large scale. This material, applied as a surface coating, is able to capture moisture from the air for storage and re-use. &#8220;It&#8217;s in its early stages, but we&#8217;ve already collected promising results,&#8221;\u009d she says.<\/p>\n<p>This technology could have exciting applications both here and abroad. &#8220;In Australia, we have this particular condition where most of the population lives near the coast. Quite a lot of water can be used from the atmosphere. It could [also] be a very cheap way to collect water in developing countries,&#8221;\u009d Neto adds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re still at the stage of optimising the material and the size of the bumps, but in a few years we might be able to have a pilot structure that could be constructed on the side of a house.&#8221;\u009d<\/p>\n<p>After studying chemistry in Florence, Italy, Neto made a strategic move to Australia to complete her doctorate. &#8220;That&#8217;s where I became interested in how liquids interact with solids,&#8221;\u009d she explains. &#8220;When I started my PhD I really wanted to investigate a particular topic [in this area], which had little expertise in Florence. The pioneers of this technique were in Australia.&#8221;\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inspired by the biological structure of the desert-dwelling Stenocara beetle, University of Sydney researcher Dr Chiara Neto&#8217;s groundbreaking water collection technology could soon bring relief to drought-stricken areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,53,58,4,11,8],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-1358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-biomimicry","category-chemistry","category-features","category-in-the-mag","category-science","tag-rhiannon-elston"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1358"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}