Seals and otter bide warm in cold water because their pelt is ideally structured for ensnare insulating air . These unequalled hairy surfaces could inspire the design of newfangled kinds of cloth , such as wet suits that are textured instead of smooth to keep loon fond in cold water .
MIT alumnus student Alice Nastodescribed result fromher radical ’s inquiry into the weewee - repellant attribute of fur and feathers last week at a confluence of the American Physical Society ’s Division of Fluid Dynamics in Boston . They found that the geometry of certain fur and feather — the duration of the hair , and how far they were space apart — play a significant role in how well they gross out water and insulate animals from the cold .
Seals , otters , and certain ocean doll do n’t have thick layer of physical structure fat to protect them from the cold . Not only is a seal ’s hairsbreadth denser than other mammals , but it has a singular microstructure that keeps the hair tangled . This makes it easier to snare air between the tomentum , and since air is less thermally conductive than water , it serves the same intention as insulting layers of body fat .
For their experiments , the MIT team make an idealised pelt ( top image ) from a soft silicone polymer safe material with laser cutting molds , so they could control the spatial arrangement and distance of the hairs . They tested their plastic “ pelt coats ” by dipping them in a fluid using a especial apparatus to control the diving speed , vary that speed , the viscosity of the fluid , and fuzz density , among other aspect . They found that the denser and longer the hairs , the more water - repellent the fur evidence to be .
Prior oeuvre in piddle - revolting materials has focused largely on the nanoscale complex body part , but it is challenging to make such materials in sufficiently turgid quantities to be commercially viable . Seal fur boasts like H2O - distasteful properties determine by structure at a larger shell ( millimeter or even centimeters ) . So it would be much easier for stuff scientist to make their own bio - ispired materials — new fabrics for cockeyed suit , for example .
The MIT inquiry may also disgorge further lighton how bats pledge : they have hairy tongues that avail them take up liquidness when they pledge , an example ofcapillary action in nature . The bat spit has applications for magnetic inclination coating in industry , Nasto said , particularly for covering physical object that have textured rather than smooth surfaces . So her work could prove utile there , too .
There could be more to the tale than insulate layers of air , however . Last year , Belgian and Moroccan researcherspublished a paperconcluding that hairs in the pelage of polar bears and the feathers of peacocks ( see image above)reflect infrared light , thereby increase how much their fur coats isolate against cold-blooded weather . That work could avail improve construction insulation .
References :
Nasto , Alice et al . “ prevent warm with fur in cold water : entrainment of melody in haired surfaces,”Presentation # L28.2 , 68th yearly APS Division of Fluid Dynamics encounter , November 23 , 2015 .
Simonis , P. et al . ( 2014 ) “ Radiative part to thermal conductance in animal furs and other woolly dielectric , ” Optics Express 22(2 ): 1940 .
[ Via APS Division of Fluid Dynamics ]
Top image : An idealized mannikin of fur . Credit : Felice Frankel . Bottom image : magnified barbules of a white-hot peacock ’s feather . quotation : Optics Express .
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