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Chinese scientists find way to stop phones overheating, inspired by Hong Kong’s Ocean Park
- 3D-printed surface is used to mimic Araucaria tree leaves’ ability to make liquid spread in more than one direction
- Altering two centuries of wisdom, the discovery has possible uses in cooling electronic devices, pregnancy tests and anti-counterfeit labels
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A trip to Hong Kong tourist attraction Ocean Park led scientists to propose a way to prevent mobile phones overheating and detect counterfeit goods – by overturning 200 years of conventional wisdom.
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Researchers at City University of Hong Kong began a two-year project inspired by Araucaria trees after one of the scientists visited the theme park and was struck by the leaves’ unique structure of ratchet-like spirals.
After studying how the leaves could direct liquid to flow in different directions on the same surface, the team used 3D-printed surfaces to mimic them – a first in the field of surface science, dating back to 1804.
The project bore fruit and the results were published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
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“The structure seems simple, but we could not have created it without the help of mother nature,” lead researcher Wang Zuankai told the South China Morning Post.
The surface replicating the leaf structure could be used to prevent electronic devices such as phones overheating, he said, by sending liquid in a certain direction rapidly to speed up heat dissipation.
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