Hydrophobic

How would you like to be able to wash your car by just hosing it off – no soap, scrubbing or drying? You may be able to in the not-too-distant future, thanks to an ultra-hydrophobic (water-repelling) paint that can be applied to a variety of surfaces, and that stays on once applied.

Hamburg's St. Pauli is one of the world's most famous red light districts, attracting around 20 million visitors a year, and a good number of those visitors urinate in public places. Now, in a fit of poetic justice, the walls of St. Pauli are being upgraded so they retaliate on micturators in kind.

With the help of very high-power laser beams, researchers at the University of Rochester have created micro and nanostructures that turn metals black and make their surfaces very easy to keep clean and dry.

Nissan is currently testing out a prototype that it says could make car washes a relic of the past. The test car benefits from a new nano-paint treatment that repels dirt and grime. The automaker is putting the car through the dirty wringer to see how well it holds up in the real world.

The close of 2013 gives us an excellent opportunity, though satiated with holiday feasts, to look back on a year that has been filled with scientific accomplishment.

A young entrepreneur named Aamir Patel has developed the Silic shirt, which is made from a hydrophobic fabric that repels liquids away from it like a force field to keep it from getting wet.

A new fabric developed at the University of California, Davis, has tiny channels that pull sweat through the fabric where it forms into droplets that drain away.

Scientists have created a new "fog harvesting" material, that switches between being absorbent and water-repellant.

Cardiff University reseracher have discovered that the key to saving Yorkk Minster may lie in olive oil

Water-resistant down is one of the most anticipated materials of outdoor and winter sports, and it's now coming to sleeping bags from several manufacturers.

A newly developed microrobot is the first that can move around by continuously jump on the water's surface without sinking, mimicking the water strider.

Researchers have found that adding nanodiamonds to laundry detergent doubles its effectiveness in cold water.