Gecko toe pads show strong adhesion on various surfaces yet remain remarkably clean around everyday contaminants. An understanding of how geckos clean their toe pads while being in motion is essential for the elucidation of animal behaviours as well as the design of biomimetic devices with optimal performance. Here, we test the self-cleaning of geckos during locomotion. We provide, to our knowl...

BY KENNETH MAINORD M any are familiar with "cleaning with heat" whether they realize it or not. Abandoning their rubber gloves, scrub brushes, and chemical cleaners, millions of households across America have been quick to accept a better and easier way to clean their kitchen ovens. This ready acceptance has made the self-cleaning oven one of the most successful new products introduced to the c...

A new type of pulsed water jet, which uses principles of self-resonance to create pressure fluctuations, is now being developed. The advantages of pulsing to improve the erosive action of a jet—by interrupting the flow, hence using the water hammer impact stress created by each individual slug—have long been appreciated by the users of water jets for cutting and cleaning applications. Of severa...

The cleaning effect of heavy rain (the rainfall reaches 5 mm every day) on surface contamination of insulators is more effective than dew, fog, mist, and other light rain conditions which can initiate leakage currents and increase the likelihood of flashover. It is well understood that heavy rain can wash away contamination from the surface of high voltage (HV) insulators and thereby reduce the...