How do insects pee? A seemingly silly question that led to a physics discovery

By Manoush Zomorodi,

Matthew Cloutier, Sanaz Meshkinpour

Published July 14, 2023 at 7:38 AM MDT

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Animal Enigmas

Professor Saad Bhamla believes all science puzzles are important, even silly ones. His research into the glass-winged sharpshooter's "butt flicker" led to a discovery about the physics of insect pee.

About Saad Bhamla

Saad Bhamla is an assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at Georgia Tech. A self-proclaimed "tinkerer," his lab is a trove of discoveries and inventions that span biology, physics and engineering. His current projects include studying the hydrodynamics of insect urine, worm blob locomotion and ultra-low-cost devices for global health. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Economist, CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal and more.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Matthew Cloutier and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.

How do insects pee? A seemingly silly question that led to a physics discovery

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