We describe and comment a few recipes to achieve highly non-wetting situations. The corresponding dynamics are very special, owing to the extremely low friction generated in such cases. We describe a few natural applications of that, in particular the strategies of the water spider Argyroneta, which takes advantage of its super-hydrophobic abdomen to build air bells underwater. We also describe dynamics in the Leidenfrost situation, where evaporation can be exploited to create self-propulsion, if some asymmetry is present in the system.

From fakir drops to levitating liquids

246th National Meeting (2013)

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