Saad Bhamla

And it kind of dawned on me that, forget other adults, no kid ever would go to currentbiology.org and actually download this and read this. And so there was this lingering feeling that there has to be a better way to share this beautiful discovery.

It's a tiny bug. They drink juices from plants, like their xylem fluid, and then they leave behind a gift, which is a bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, which creates a lot of problems across the United States, from California for vines and then citrus from Florida. But it's a beautiful bug, and it drinks a lot, and it pees a lot.

It's a tiny bug. They drink juices from plants, like their xylem fluid, and then they leave behind a gift, which is a bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, which creates a lot of problems across the United States, from California for vines and then citrus from Florida. But it's a beautiful bug, and it drinks a lot, and it pees a lot.

It's a tiny bug. They drink juices from plants, like their xylem fluid, and then they leave behind a gift, which is a bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, which creates a lot of problems across the United States, from California for vines and then citrus from Florida. But it's a beautiful bug, and it drinks a lot, and it pees a lot.

I was actually at my son's pre-K who's five-year-old and showing this and he loves it and all the kids love it because they've never seen pee. Like to me, this is the most beautiful pee in the world. It's like a perfect drop. So we used macro lenses that allow us to zoom in, effectively a microscope, but with a high-speed camera.

I was actually at my son's pre-K who's five-year-old and showing this and he loves it and all the kids love it because they've never seen pee. Like to me, this is the most beautiful pee in the world. It's like a perfect drop. So we used macro lenses that allow us to zoom in, effectively a microscope, but with a high-speed camera.

I was actually at my son's pre-K who's five-year-old and showing this and he loves it and all the kids love it because they've never seen pee. Like to me, this is the most beautiful pee in the world. It's like a perfect drop. So we used macro lenses that allow us to zoom in, effectively a microscope, but with a high-speed camera.

And that's where we kind of focus in on the business end of this bug, which is the butt flicker like you shared. And yeah, it was so amazing for the first time to see how it flicks these droplets at such high speeds. It's just incredible.

And that's where we kind of focus in on the business end of this bug, which is the butt flicker like you shared. And yeah, it was so amazing for the first time to see how it flicks these droplets at such high speeds. It's just incredible.

And that's where we kind of focus in on the business end of this bug, which is the butt flicker like you shared. And yeah, it was so amazing for the first time to see how it flicks these droplets at such high speeds. It's just incredible.

This was the whole conundrum. And my graduate student, Elio Chalita, who did this work, and he showed me this. I didn't believe it. And we checked again and again. And the kind of aha moment, which is these droplets are compressible. They deform and squishy because of surface tension. So they store energy by squishing it, just like if you had a Jell-O.

This was the whole conundrum. And my graduate student, Elio Chalita, who did this work, and he showed me this. I didn't believe it. And we checked again and again. And the kind of aha moment, which is these droplets are compressible. They deform and squishy because of surface tension. So they store energy by squishing it, just like if you had a Jell-O.

This was the whole conundrum. And my graduate student, Elio Chalita, who did this work, and he showed me this. I didn't believe it. And we checked again and again. And the kind of aha moment, which is these droplets are compressible. They deform and squishy because of surface tension. So they store energy by squishing it, just like if you had a Jell-O.

Exactly, like a water balloon. So it can store energy by surface tension. And that was why we called it super propulsion, because it gets some energy for free by storing energy in the deformation or the squishiness of the drop.

Exactly, like a water balloon. So it can store energy by surface tension. And that was why we called it super propulsion, because it gets some energy for free by storing energy in the deformation or the squishiness of the drop.

Exactly, like a water balloon. So it can store energy by surface tension. And that was why we called it super propulsion, because it gets some energy for free by storing energy in the deformation or the squishiness of the drop.

Precisely. It sticks to them. And so they have to give this flick.

Precisely. It sticks to them. And so they have to give this flick.

Precisely. It sticks to them. And so they have to give this flick.

A neat example of this is in your smart watches or hearing aids. Smart watches, for example, have a button where after you go for a swim, you can press a button and it ejects the water to protect the electronics. We think we can learn a trick or two from the sharpshooter and improve the ability of these low-power electronics to eject water from tiny crevices and areas using very minimal energy.