They came across a super-absorbent moss, Syntrichia caninervis (or Tortula Moss), which collects significantly larger amounts of water than its brethren. The team replicated this structure using Vantablack, a carbon nanotube creation that lets light enter, but not leave, making it the "world's darkest material." The team tweaked the setup so that instead of trapping visible light, the surface would capture gobs of urine -- making an artificial black hole that captures your pee.

The team presented their findings at a fluid dynamics conference last week in Boston, although we're still a way out from seeing these pop up in our nearest bar. Perhaps we can reduce the need for the hardware to be created at all by both not wearing light-colored cargo shorts and aiming ourselves with a little more care in the future.