the.com/osmosis
water's stubborn quest for balance, sneaking through walls to dilute its enemies
means The movement of a solvent (usually water) through a semipermeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to one of higher concentration, tending to equalize the two — or, loosely, the gradual unconscious absorption of knowledge or ideas.
from Coined in the 19th century by scientists studying how fluids creep through membranes. It traces back to the Greek 'ōsmos,' meaning 'a push' or 'thrust' (from 'ōthein,' to push), so the word literally carries the sense of something being shoved through a barrier. An earlier form, 'endosmose,' came via French before English smoothed it into the tidier 'osmosis.'
- no energy
- runs purely on concentration gradients, no fuel required
- plant power
- keeps cells rigid; lose it and plants wilt
- reverse it
- pressure flips osmosis to desalinate seawater
- deadly to cells
- too much incoming water bursts them like balloons
- discovered 1748
- Abbe Nollet spotted it through a pig bladder
dialysis for kidney failure — removes waste from blood of 2 million patients globally using semipermeable membranes
salt preservation of meat — osmotic dehydration used for centuries, draws water out of meat via salt diffusion