Raindrops Carry Electrical Charges, Study Finds

10:02 PM ETDeveloping

Science Desk

In Short: Raindrops are not just water but tiny lightning bolts, according to a new study that reveals their corrosive power.

Raindrops are not just water but tiny lightning bolts, according to a new study that reveals their corrosive power. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, has shown that water drops routinely arrive at a surface carrying an electrical charge large enough to punch through an insulating coating. This phenomenon, known as 'slide electrification,' has only been properly quantified in the past few years, according to Ars Technica. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, suggests that rain's corrosive effect is not just due to dissolved salts and acids but also the electrical charge carried by the raindrops.

The study's findings could explain why cars are corroding at an accelerated rate in certain regions. 'Water drops routinely arrive at a surface carrying an electrical charge large enough to punch through an insulating coating,' said Zhongyuan Ni, Rüdiger Berger, and Hans-Jürgen Butt, the lead researchers. This electrical charge, combined with the abrasion caused by the constant drumming of raindrops, can lead to corrosion, the researchers concluded.

However, the study's implications extend beyond just corrosion. The researchers also found that prolonged sitting can significantly increase the risk of cancer and cancer mortality. The study, published in PLOS Medicine, analyzed data from more than 91,000 people who took part in the UK Biobank study. 'For every extra hour of prolonged sitting in the day, people in the study faced a significantly higher risk of cancer and cancer mortality,' said a researcher from ScienceAlert. The good news is that breaking up your sitting time with something as simple as a short walk could be protective.

Another study, published in the journal Science, offers a potential solution to a common chemotherapy side effect. The study, by a team of doctors and researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, found that lab mice given two doses of psilocybin before receiving chemotherapy were shielded from nerve damage. The protection held up through six consecutive chemo sessions and persisted for eight months, the study’s duration. This finding could offer a new way to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a condition that affects about two-thirds of patients who receive chemo.

What's still developing

In the study, Dr. Rigosi and co-authors from Lund University and the University of Adelaide used a technique called intracellular recording to measure the electrical responses of individual photoreceptors — the light-sensing cells in an insect’s eye — in four bee species and both sexes of each.
The reason why seems to have to do with how energy-producing structures called mitochondria move through nerve cells.
A first-of-its-kind study published in PLOS Medicine shows that the way we break up and accumulate periods of prolonged rest throughout the day may have a huge impact on health.
In February of last year, authorities confirmed the details of a grave medical accident.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) diagnosed a fatal rabies infection in a patient from Michigan.
The deceased man, an organ recipient, had received a donated kidney infected with rabies.
The source of the kidney was a man in Idaho who had died only weeks earlier, donating his organs for others in need.
At the time of his death, nobody realized his body was infected with the deadly virus.

Sources

Ars Technica link