As a follow up to our work on reducing urinal backsplash at APS in 2013, Splash Lab PhD student Randy Hurd has developed a urine black hole which prevents urine from splashing back. At APS in 2015 Hurd explained that the inspiration for the black hole came from the moss Syntrichia caninervis, which is a super absorbent desert plant that collects water with its leaves. The black hole doesn’t use leaves, but instead uses pillars of an optimal height and spacing to diminish backsplash. This research will make men’s restrooms more sanitary and the scientific community will have a better understanding of how pillars effect impacting droplets.
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