Superhydrophobicity

A hydrophobic material is one that repels water and a hydrophilic material is one that likes water. Pretty obvious. It's not so obvious how to go about testing where a material falls on the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity scale. This is where something called the contact angle comes into play. It's the angle made at the interface of a water droplet with air at the surface of a solid material. Here's a picture that will clarify.

This test can be done with any two fluids (air and water are the most common) at a solid surface to compare surface tensions of different materials. When the contact angle is less than 90 degrees the surface is considered hydrophilic and if the contact angle is more than 90 degrees it is considered hydrophobic. If the contact angle is greater than 150 degrees then the surface is considered super-hydrophobic. There's not too much work on superhydrophilicity but a contact angle of nearly 0 degrees is the general consensus.
So why are super-hydrophobic surfaces worth writing a blog post about? Well, they can be used to reduce drag anywhere that a surface is pulled against water (hulls of ships, inside of pipes, etc). They can also be used as a self cleaning surface coating, so anytime it rains, dirt will be easily swept away. Imagine cleaning your car (well) by leaving it out in the rain.

Gucci Mane X Mother 3

Let's just say a little birdie told me about this video/song. Gucci Mane and anime seem to go pretty well together. Whodathunk it.

Magnetohydrodynamic Drive

Actually, a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) drive uses some electrohydrodynamics as well. Generally salt water flows though the poles of a magnet while a current is run through the salt water. The interaction of the current and the magnetic field cause a force that pushes the ions. The ions drag the water with them creating a jet and propelling the craft in the opposite direction. Get all that? No? Well you're in luck because there's a picture that explains everything, just replace the plasma with salt water.

Deep in the Amazon (.com that is)

I would just like to share a review of The Total Pillow that I found on Amazon.com. Based on this review, I can only suspect that unemployed Creative Writing majors spend their free time trying to write witty feedback to relive their glory days. I must say that I found it to be pretty funny. Thank you TriSaratoppps for making the Amazon just a little bit funnier.

"I walked in the store with my head held high, proud that I'd be buying a magnificent product such as one that I'd seen on the television. I was probably wearing a wolf shirt, because nothing is more majestic than a wolf, and I wanted to be worthy to carry this donut filled with tiny balls of Styrofoam.

As I drew near the packaging called out to me, "I can be twisted in any so many ways!" "Come to me!" "Come on, sucker!" I thought it was weird that a blue pillow was talking to me, but I figured that it was just because of the awesomeness.

I picked up the pillow and held it up in the air, shaking it gloriously. People around me stared in fright, I stared at them in contempt. They weren't touching this glorious bagel.
I looked at the pillow one more time, it looked at me like one of those cookies that were made by those old cookie press machines. After more than twenty minutes of uninterrupted eye contact, I walked to the check out, nonchalant. I wasn't there to make a scene at the Bed, Bath & Beyond.

I walked out and took my prize out of the package and slid it behind my neck, folded in half, the way of the kings and travelers. We had five minutes pure summer love, then something happened. My precious, magnificent friend turned away from me. My stuffed onion ring started ripping, its immortal beads spilling around my shoulders. "Too soon!" I cried as I pulled the traitor from behind my neck. I was rattled to the bone as I through the pillow out the door.

This isn't the way it was supposed to end. But it did."

Rayleigh Air Bearing

Air moving at high speeds can cause some neat effects. Jet engines, for example, basically just throw a lot of air really fast in one direction, which causes the plane to move in the opposite direction, because of Newton's second law of motion. Air can also be used as a cushion, like in a hovercraft. Air bearings put that air cushion to work to reduce the friction between two spinning shafts by inducing a levitation effect. The video below shows a demonstration of an old air bearing. Yay!

Wire Clothes Hanger Machine

So, clothes hangers are pretty boring, right? To most people yes, they are extremely boring. They haven't really changed much since they were invented and they are commonplace more useful for unclogging drains than for their intended purpose. I, however, have what some might call a fascination with them. There are well over 150 patents for clothes hangers (mostly of the collapsible type), but the vast majority of them have failed. And that is the mark of a good design, something that stands the test of time. To quote one of the most not-so-poetic bands of the 80's, "only time will tell if we stand the test of time". Oh, Van Halen, you should have just stuck with David Lee Roth, he may have been an alcoholic but at least he could write. But I digress, here's TWO machines that make wire coat hangers. Enjoy!

Gears Are Really Awesome and Complicated

You bet they are. Gears that are practical have to withstand pretty large forces, like the gears in a car transmission. Gears in power generation stations have to withstand even larger forces. In these applications simplicity is key, but what about applications that can benefit from some complicated gear shapes? Well, there aren't any (at least not yet), but there is always art. Check out the videos below of a cube gear and a heart gear.