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Men would usually find it problematic when their pants would get splashed on when they pee. Streams of urine break up and form tiny droplets as they leave the body. When those droplets strike the surface of a urinal, they can bounce back and stain the pants.

A team of scientists working with Utah State University's Splash Lab believe they've come up with a way to solve the problem. Their solution is a urinal insert that's similar to a moisture-loving moss known as Syntrichia caninervis, which has a pillar-like design. They presented their work last week at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics in Boston.

"With this natural splash suppressor in mind, we [searched] for the ideal urine black hole by performing experiments of simulated urine streams," the researchers said in their abstract. "We propose improved urinal insert designs based on our experimental data in hopes of reducing potential embarrassment inherent in wearing khakis."

Gentlemen needing to relieve themselves would aim for the insert, and the perfectly placed and sized pillars would trap any liquid trying to leap out of the urinal.

"While we find the connection to urinals interesting, we are confident that the scientific community will have interest in the interaction between the splashing droplet and the pillars," researchers Tadd Truscott and Randy Hurd told Gizmodo.

In 2013, using water shot through a 3D-printed artificial male urethra, the team recorded different angles and the splash-back patterns using high-speed cameras. They found out that standing as close as possible to the urinal and angling the urine stream downward would create the least amount of splash.

"Although reducing the impact angle would also work in traditional toilets, these angles tend to only present themselves around the rim of the bowl, simultaneously increasing the chances of missing the bowl entirely," Hurd said at the time. "I wouldn't recommend this approach to anyone but military snipers."