Sweat Doesn't Actually Form The Way We Thought, Study Finds

People Sweat Differently Than Traditionally Thought, Perspiring in Pools Not Droplets

Learn how sweat emerges from the skin, a process that has important implications for human health, textiles, and technology.

Sweat Doesn't Actually Form The Way We Thought, Study Finds

A "bead of sweat" is a beautiful turn of phrase, but the imagery is not quite right. Scientifically speaking, it may be more accurate to say a "film of sweat". A new study has found that human perspiration emerges from pores not as discrete droplets, as is often imagined, but as nearly flat, shallow puddles. If enough sweat pores fill to the brim, the overflow combines to form a very thin film on the surface of the skin, less than 0.1 millimeter…