The man in a white suit and gecko's with dry feet

The film "The Man in the White Suit" 1951, tells the story of a scientist who constructs a fabric that he claims will never need washing and last forever.  He has many adventures and becomes a hunted man by both the textile management and the industrial workers who would lose their jobs if the fabric was sold to the public. 

The white suit is now a reality.

BBC News 26 April 2012.  Stain-shedding coating gets tough By Jason Palmer

"Super-hydrophobic surfaces have fascinated scientists for years; they are behind the lotus plant's self-cleaning leaves and the gecko's super-dry and thus super-sticky feet.  The new work hinges on what is known as layer-by-layer self-assembly - basically dipping a fabric into a solution over and over again to deposit multiple layers on it. The team from the Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre at Deakin University made their solution with tiny particles of silica - the same material as sand".

How did someone discover that a gecko has dry feet?

This very short video shows what happens when a water droplet hits a sample of the "self-cleaning" coating. Courtesy of Tong Lin/Deakin University.

Watching the liquid bounce back up from the fabric surface is so funny!

//www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17852304