Aug 12, 2026 · 18 min
Curiosity turns insect pee into a map for science
Why this lab studies the speed of bug pee and other curiosities
Saad Bhamla’s lab shows how asking unusual questions can connect fluid physics, music, engineering, and childhood curiosity.
- 1Sharpshooter insects conserve energy by using surface tension to launch perfectly spherical urine droplets.
- 2Bhamla’s exploratory lab applies quantitative thinking across insect biology, musical time, hearing aids, and robotics.
- 3Compelling scientific questions can make unfamiliar subjects accessible while resisting the pressure to stay within one discipline.
Don't miss
Bhamla explains how surface tension lets sharpshooters store energy in deformed urine droplets and eject them with super propulsion.
The brief
Saad Bhamla introduces a research philosophy built around unusual questions, linking insect fluid dynamics with music, hearing aids, robots, and the education of curious children.
Sharpshooters feed on watery xylem sap and eject spherical droplets. Bhamla’s team found that surface tension deforms and stores energy, enabling the insects’ super-propulsive urination.
The lab’s curiosity-driven approach extends to music, where large historical datasets and statistical physics are used to study how time is encoded across genres and centuries.
Bhamla describes the skepticism interdisciplinary work can attract, alongside experiences in Madagascar and the Amazon that strengthened his belief in exploration without self-imposed limits.
For Bhamla, a good scientific question resembles art: it makes an unfamiliar subject inviting and offers the thrill of uncovering a secret no one else has seen.
Featuring
Saad BhamlaBooks & mentions
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