The team, led by Qinmin Pan, created the robot to mimic the water-strider, an insect whose front wing is only half function and is built to transfer its body weight in order to run on the water’s ...

Water striders harness it by secreting water-insoluble compounds called lipids, creating a surface tension imbalance that pulls them forward. Led by Asst. Prof. Hassan Masoud, a team at Michigan ...

Watch for water striders on warm spring days. Often mistaken for spiders, water striders are insects, and play a beneficial role in aquatic ecosystems. On warm, late-winter and early-spring days look ...

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that can cause big problems when they enter the water supply. One way my fluid dynamics lab explores microplastic movement is by studying how tiny ...

Water striders are fascinating to watch, as they scoot across the water while supported by surface tension. Scientists have now built a tiny robotic version of the insect, which utilizes a ...

The last time I wrote about water striders, it was the middle of the summer. I was sitting by a pond battling mosquitoes while watching them skate across the surface of the pond. I love how fast they ...

Water striders live on the water surface and their leg length ranges from several to over 100 millimeters (Fig. 1,2). It is well known that they use their long hydrophobic legs and support their ...

Holly has a degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leicester. Her scientific interests include genomics, personalized medicine, and bioethics.View full profile Holly has a degree in ...

When I was a boy I often fished in a small creek not far from home. By September the water would be so low I could get in the creek bed and rock-hop from pool to pool until I was close enough to ...

Introduction Have you ever seen a “water strider” (also called water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, etcetera)? They are bugs that effortlessly hop around on the surface of ponds, lakes and rivers ...

Water striders are the perfect, poetic rendering of water’s most magical property -- its tendency to form an invisible membrane on its surface like a fragile skin. And as if granted special powers, ...