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Rice leaves are characterized by waxy bumps and grooves.
Rice leaves are characterized by waxy bumps (above), which repel water and prevent contaminants from adhering to a surface, as well as grooves (below) that keep water from pooling on a surface. Incorporating these features into man-made products could help engineers tackle unwanted biological build-up in a wide variety of industries.
Credit: Scanning electron microscope image (top) and optical profiler rendering (bottom) courtesy of Bharat Bhushan and Greg Bixler, The Ohio State University
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Related story: To Combat Biological Build-up, Engineers Look to Nature for Inspiration