Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

It might not be apparent to the naked eye, but bees are remarkably hirsute creatures, carpeted with three million tiny hairs—the same number as a squirrel. And in the insect world (as opposed to the dog world), all those hairs help to keep creatures clean. The bee’s legs are “like feather dusters,” says David Hu, a mechanical engineer at Georgia Tech. When those leg hairs brush hairs elsewhere on the body, they can catapult dust away from the bee at 1,000 times the speed of gravity. Hu says these tricks of the insect world might help us develop better self-cleaning materials, such as solar panels that dust themselves.

Microscopic Hairs Keep Some Critters Clean

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

Microscopic Hairs Keep Some Critters Clean

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