Now, researchers have discovered the bears have another unexpected Arctic adaptation: greasy fur. It’s a trait that, ...

Discover the amazing properties of polar bear fur that repel ice and prevent ice buildup. Learn how their specialized hair ...

Anti-icing materials could be developed following a study of polar bear fur and its ability to remain ice-free.

Learn more about polar bear sebum, the oil on their fur that prevents ice from sticking to them, and how it could be used to ...

There's something about polar bears that's always puzzled the people who study them. How do they seem to repel snow? The ...

Bodil Holst at the University of Bergen in Norway and her colleagues have shown that the ice resistance of polar bear fur is due to natural oils secreted onto the hairs, rather than a property of ...

Senior author Bodil Holst, a physicist at the University of Bergen in Norway, was inspired to investigate polar bear fur after watching a TV quiz program, she tells Michael Le Page at New Scientist.

Polar bears need all the help they can get to survive their frosty Arctic environment. One of their biggest survival secrets appears to be greasy hair. The sebum–or hair grease–on their fur ...

“Unwashed, greasy hair made it much harder for ice to stick. In contrast, when the polar bear fur was washed and the grease largely removed it performed similarly to human hair, to which ice ...

After pinpointing the hair grease as the key component for keeping ice off of polar bear fur, they performed a detailed chemical analysis of the sebum. They first identified the key ...