"Breakthrough in Aquatic Levitation Could Revolutionize Nuclear Reactor Cooling"
Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a method to achieve the Leidenfrost effect, where water droplets hover on a vapor layer, at significantly lower temperatures using surfaces covered with micropillars. This discovery, published in Nature Physics, has potential applications in cooling industrial machines and nuclear reactors, as well as in surface cleaning. The new method could help prevent damage and disasters in nuclear machinery by improving heat transfer efficiency.