News Physics

Eyelashes’ special features help fling water from the eyes

The hairs’ microstructure and shape help keep vision clear from liquid droplets 

A closeup shows an eye framed by eyelashes, with four droplets of water pictured landing on an eyelash, sliding off, and falling.

Eyelashes help propel droplets of water away from the eye, as shown in this composite image.

L. Jiang et al.

By Emily Conover

Next time you’re caught in the rain, thank your eyelashes for keeping your vision clear.

Experiments with human eyelashes and eyelash-mimicking fibers pinpoint several features that help fling water away from the eyes, researchers from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences report December 20 in Science Advances.