Wiki World: moisture

The chemistry is altered in the cave water below a bushfire.

Raging fires on the surface of the planet affect caves that intertwine below. Research into climate history is now complicated by this finding. Australian and UK scientists analysed water dripping in cave after a fire and found that the chemistry of moisture changed.

There could be a new horizon, however. Stalagmites and stalactites store information about fires. The caves tested have clear data stretching back 200,000 years. Oxygen-16 is lighter than oxygen-18 and it evapourates quicker, so dripwater with more oxygen-18 would indicate fires or hot spells above.

Pauline Treble of the University of New South Wales found that sites in a cave only 23 meters apart had different water chemical readings. This was caused by a recent bushfire in 2005 localized to one of the cave sections.

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STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES RECORD FIRES

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Can nature beat science? This is an open question but it will be put to the test. Teflon is a material created by scientists. It does not occur naturally. Will it stand the test and be unique, unfettered by mother nature?

Geckos can run along many surfaces, whether vertical or upside-down. Their toes are covered in in rows of keratin ridges called lamellae. They are like very fine hairs that attach to just about anything.

Students at the University of Akron's Auburn Science Centre tested the ability of geckos to run along vertical teflon sheets. And yes, they could not cross it! By adding water, however, they ran along it quite happily.

Apparently, the presence of moisture is a must for geckos to get around. Any surface that repels water is playground for geckos. An adhesive has been developed that will stick things together underwater based on research done on this interesting little creature.

Science by Ty Buchanan