Penguin feathers hold clues to anti-icing tech

Oct 31, 2022

A group of gentoo penguins walk along Quentin Point, Anvers Island, Antarctica.

The microstructures of penguin feathers have provided the basis for a new de-icing solution. Image: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Katherine Gombay

Senior Communications Officer, McGill University

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The image on the left shows the microstructure of a penguin feather, and on the right is the stainless-steel wire cloth that the researchers decorated with nanogrooves that copy the hierarchy of the penguin feather structure. Image: Futurity

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