PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages

Mimicking a unique water collection-and-release feature found in plants with tiny conical 'hairs' or microfibers on the surface of their leaves may enable a technology capable of pulling fresh water from the air

Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages
2015-03-30
(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON D.C., March 30, 2015 - Plants living in arid, mountainous and humid regions of the planet often rely on their leaves to obtain the moisture they need for survival by pulling mist out of the air. But how exactly they manage this feat has been a bit of a mystery--until now.

By studying the morphology and physiology of plants with tiny conical "hairs" or microfibers on the surface of their leaves, such as tomatoes, balsam pears and the flowers Berkheya purpea and Lychnis sieboldii, a team of researchers in Japan uncovered water collection-and-release secrets that may, in turn, one day soon "bioinspire" a technology to pull fresh water from the air to help alleviate global water shortages.

As the team reports in a story appearing on this week's cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, they examined Lychnis sieboldii in detail and discovered a unique water collection-and-release feature: cone-shaped hairs with inner microfibers reversibly transform to crushed plates that "twist" perpendicularly in dry conditions.

"We zeroed in on the microstructure of the plants via advanced electron microscope technology and recorded the dynamic changes involved in the water collection process in the form of a movie," explained Professor Shigeru Yamanaka, who is on the Faculty of Textile Science and Technology at Shinshu University.

What did this reveal? Microfibers found within the hairs appear to be responsible for both water storage and release. Depending on the moisture level in the air, when needed, water stored during wet conditions gets released onto the leaf in dry conditions.

At room temperature, Lychnis sieboldii hairs showed changes in their morphology depending on exposure to water. In a wet state, the hairs became cone-shaped immediately after a water droplet adhered to it. After drying, the cone shapes morphed into a perpendicularly twisted structure at a 90° angle. But when a droplet of water was placed on the hairs they reverted back to their initial cone shape, which may be a "shape memory" effect.

The team tapped simulations to help explain the formation of the twisted structure, which they believe "adds increased mechanical strength to the hairs." Similar phenomena were found in the other plants with "hairy" leaves.

"Under dry conditions, the hairs also twisted in a similar manner," said Yamanaka. "They converted to a cone shape, just like Lychnis sieboldii, when exposed to water droplets--suggesting that this strategy of water control is common among plants with similar hairs on their leaves' surfaces."

How might these findings one day help alleviate the world's water shortage? "These plants give us great ideas worth mimicking," noted Yamanaka. "Advanced fiber technology can be used to 'replicate' the plant hair's fiber 'net structure' and enable the development of an apparatus capable of collecting water from the air in arid regions of the world."

INFORMATION:

The article, "Mechanics of Water Collection in Plants via Morphology Change of Conical Hairs," is authored by Fuya Ito, Satoshi Komatsubara, Naoki Shigezawa, Hideaki Morikawa, Yasushi Murakami, Katsumi Yoshino and Shigeru Yamanaka. It appears in the journal Applied Physics Letters on March 30, 2015 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4916213). After that date, it can be accessed at: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/106/13/10.1063/1.4916213

Authors of this study are affiliated with Shinshu University and the Shimane Institute for Industrial Technology.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Applied Physics Letters features concise, rapid reports on significant new findings in applied physics. The journal covers new experimental and theoretical research on applications of physics phenomena related to all branches of science, engineering, and modern technology. See: http://apl.aip.org


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages 2 Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

To statin or not to statin?

2015-03-30
Cholesterol-lowering statins have transformed the treatment of heart disease. But while the decision to use the drugs in patients with a history of heart attacks and strokes is mostly clear-cut, that choice can be a far trickier proposition for the tens of millions of Americans with high cholesterol but no overt disease. Now a report from preventive cardiologists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere offers a set of useful tips for physicians to help their patients make the right call. The report, published March 30 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, combines ...

York U study: Functional decline in women at Alzheimer's risk relates to deteriorating brain wiring

2015-03-30
TORONTO, March 30, 2015 - In their latest brain imaging study on women at risk for Alzheimer's disease, York University researchers have found deterioration in the pathways that serve to communicate signals between different brain regions needed for performing everyday activities such as driving a car or using a computer. "We observed a relationship between the levels of deterioration in the brain wiring and their performance on our task that required simultaneous thinking and moving; what we see here is a result of communication failure," explains Professor Lauren Sergio ...

Oral drug normalizes blood potassium in 98 percent of kidney patients

2015-03-30
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, U.S.A. (March 30, 2015) -- Patients with chronic kidney disease may be treated with a class of medications called Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System inhibitors (RAASI's). Although these drugs protect the heart and kidney, a significant percentage of patients develop a dangerous side effect -- high potassium levels in the blood (hyperkalemia). Elevated potassium puts patients at risk of death from cardiac arrhythmias. Lacking a drug to treat the problem, doctors either stop these beneficial drugs or may use kidney dialysis to quickly lower the potassium. At ...

Teens with breast lumps may be able to avoid invasive biopsy

2015-03-30
If a lump is found in the breast of an adolescent girl, she often will undergo an excisional biopsy. However, breast cancer is rare in adolescents, and the vast majority of teenage breast lumps turn out to be benign masses that are related to hormones and often go away over time. A recent Loyola University Health System study published in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine suggests that a breast ultrasound examination might eliminate the need for biopsy in many cases. Loyola radiologists studied 37 teen girls with a total of 45 breast lumps to determine whether ...

How DNA alarm-system works

How DNA alarm-system works
2015-03-30
The DNA molecule is chemically unstable giving rise to DNA lesions of different nature. That is why DNA damage detection, signaling and repair, collectively known as the DNA damage response, are needed. The DNA damage response is immensely important, for example, for ensuring the highest possible quality of the DNA before replication - duplication of the DNA prior to cell division. If the damaged DNA is replicated, the risk of cancer and other diseases increases significantly due to mutations. All in all this may lead to the death of a cell itself. DNA repair consists ...

Fasting and less-toxic cancer drug may work as well as chemotherapy

2015-03-30
Fasting in combination with chemotherapy has already been shown to kill cancer cells, but a pair of new studies in mice suggests that a less-toxic class of drugs combined with fasting may kill breast, colorectal and lung cancer cells equally well. If shown to work in humans, this combination could replace chemotherapy and make fasting a potent component of a long-term strategy to treat cancer, according to senior author Valter Longo of USC. Human clinical trials in the United States and Europe are already studying the effectiveness and safety of Longo's strategy of ...

Study: Functional decline in woman at risk for Alzheimer's relates to deteriorating brain

2015-03-30
TORONTO, March 30, 2015 - In their latest brain imaging study on women at risk for Alzheimer's disease, York University researchers have found deterioration in the pathways that serve to communicate signals between different brain regions needed for performing everyday activities such as driving a car or using a computer. "We observed a relationship between the levels of deterioration in the brain wiring and their performance on our task that required simultaneous thinking and moving; what we see here is a result of communication failure," explains Professor Lauren Sergio ...

Rate of opioid misuse is around 25 percent, addiction rate 10 percent, reports study in Pain

2015-03-30
March 30, 2015 - New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent, reports a study in the April issue of END ...

New Canadian guidelines to prevent and manage obesity in children must focus on family

2015-03-30
New guidelines from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care to help prevent and manage obesity in children and youth recommend regular growth monitoring at routine health care visits as well as a focus on family lifestyles and health behaviours. The guidelines, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), are aimed at helping primary care practitioners address this major public health issue. Growth monitoring includes measuring weight, height or length, calculating body mass index and plotting these according to age using the measures on the WHO ...

Seabed samples rewrite earthquake history near Istanbul

2015-03-30
SAN FRANCISCO--Located in the Marmara Sea, major earthquakes along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) system have repeatedly struck what is current-day Istanbul and the surrounding region, but determining the recurrence rate has proven difficult since the faults are offshore. Cores of marine sediment reveal an earthquake history of the Cinarcik Segment, a main branch of NAF, and suggest a seismic gap where the next earthquake is likely to rupture, as detailed in a new study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA). The area has experienced ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Being physically active, even just a couple of days a week, may be key to better health

High-fat diet promote breast cancer metastasis in animal models

A router for photons

Nurses and AI collaborate to save lives, reduce hospital stays

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

[Press-News.org] Mist-collecting plants may bioinspire technology to help alleviate global water shortages
Mimicking a unique water collection-and-release feature found in plants with tiny conical 'hairs' or microfibers on the surface of their leaves may enable a technology capable of pulling fresh water from the air