Mist-Collecting Plants May 'Bioinspire' Technology to Help Alleviate Global Water Shortages
Monday, March 30, 2015 - 13:30
in Earth & Climate
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.