Super-fast Insect Urination Powered by the Physics of Superpropulsion
Tiny insects known as sharpshooters excrete by catapulting urine drops at incredible accelerations. Their excretion is the first example of superpropulsion discovered in a biological system.
A sharpshooter insect forming a urine droplet before it catapulting it high acceleration.
Feb 28, 2023
— Atlanta, GA
Saad Bhamla was in his backyard when he saw something he had never seen before: an insect urinating. Though nearly impossible to see, the insect formed an almost perfectly round droplet on its tail and then launched it away so quickly that it seemed to disappear. The tiny insect relieved itself repeatedly for hours.