Bacteria-popping surfaces!

re Cicada wings

On the surface of the wings
a hexagonal array
of blunted spikes,
nanoscopic pillars –
don’t look potential killers;
but when bacteria stray
onto this surface,
they stay
– their membranes
not pierced at first,
but stretched –
bacterium sinks down
(like filler surrounding each pillar)
until it’s gradually burst
(think of balloons full of water, dropping
on a bed of blunt nails flopping,
the weight of water pushing down
so the rubber’s stretched until it’s popping!):
a safe, non-chemical disinfectant!
So scientists are expectant
of copying this intricate design,
for an environmentally-friendly
antibacterial protectant!