  We investigate the drying dynamics of porous media with two pore diameters
separated by several orders of magnitude. Nanometer-sized pores at the edge of
our samples prevent air entry, while drying proceeds by heterogeneous
nucleation of vapor bubbles (cavitation) in the liquid in micrometer-sized
voids within the sample. We show that the dynamics of cavitation and drying are
set by the interplay of the deterministic poroelastic mass transport in the
porous medium and the stochastic nucleation process. Spatio-temporal patterns
emerge in this unusual reaction-diffusion system, with temporal oscillations in
the drying rate and variable roughness of the drying front.
