March• 2019 | 55READER’S DIGEST
push the dirt out and
keep doing so until
the pore is completely
rid of the unwanted
particles. The process
takes mere minutes.
“It is a peculiarity
of the phenomenon
that diffusiophore-
sis depends on the
detergent concen-
tration ratio, not ab-
solute values,” Shin
explains.
“Our experiments
confirm diffusiopho-
resis continues to
operate even when
the solute [detergent]
is nearly completely
vanished.”
Shin and his colleagues demon-
stratedtheirdiscoverywithtiny
tubes, 48 microns by ten microns in
cross-section, connected to a larger
vessel.Theyusedpolystyreneballs
half a micron across
to act as dirt particles
and showed that a
soapy wash followed
by a fresh water rinse
in the main tube
drew the particles
out efficiently, while
using soapy water for
both wash and rinse
hadnoeffectatall.
And that finding
has important impli-
cations for washing
machine manufac-
turers. The rinsing
doesn’t require liq-
uid f low, so there is
no need for multiple
rinse cycles.
“This suggests we can simply leave
thewaterforover20minuteswith-
out exchanging water for multiple
rounds of freshwater rinse, which
could eventually help to save water,”
Shin says.THE RINSING
DOESN’T
REQUIRE
LIQUID FLOW,
SO THERE IS
NO NEED FOR
MULTIPLE
RINSE CYCLESMEERKAT SNATCHERA man who claims he ‘fell in love’ with an adorable meerkat pup
(yes, pups and not kittens) has been fined $4000 after pleading
guilty to stealing the four-week-old pup from its enclosure by
scooping it up in a cooler bag at Perth Zoo last September.
The pup, located three days later by police, has been named
‘Salama’ meaning safe by zoo staff. 9NEWS.COM.AU‘COMING CLEAN: THE PHYSICS OF DOING THE LAUNDRY’ IN SCIENCE WRITING 2018. © 2018 BY PHIL DOOLEY. EDITED BY JOHN PICKRELL. THE BEST AUSTRALIAN
PUBLISHED BY NEWSOUTH, SYDNEY