In Olympic high-diving, athletes leap from a maximum of 10 meters above the water. Although the force of their water impact is substantial, it’s small enough that they can enter Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Sailing Faster Than The Wind
It’s a bit mindboggling, but by exploiting physics and geometry, a sailboat can reach speeds faster than the wind propelling it. Steve Mould demonstrates how in this video using some Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Visualizing the Magnus Effect in Golf
Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 in Rio and is back for the Tokyo edition. Golf balls — with their turbulence-promoting dimples — are a perennial favorite for aerodynamics Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Optimizing Oar Length
The sleek hulls of racing boats are designed to minimize drag, but there’s optimization to the oars as well. Mathematical models – and the history of rowing – indicate that Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Surf Physics
Surfing is making its Olympic debut this year with a shortboard competition held at Shidashita Beach, with the event’s timing determined by weather and wave quality. The fluid dynamics involved Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Future Swim Tech
Recent controversies over swimsuit technologies haven’t damped the creativity of Speedo’s marketing staff. They recently unveiled Fastskin 4.0, a futuristic concept designed for the swimmers of 2040*. They’ve envisioned a Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Sailing Physics
At first glance, sailboats don’t look much like an airplane, but physics-wise, they’re closely related. Both the sail and hull of a sailboat act like wings turned on their side. Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Volleyball Aerodynamics
Like footballs and baseballs, the trajectory of a volleyball is strongly influenced by aerodynamics. When spinning, the ball experiences a difference in pressure on either side, which causes it to swerve, per the Magnus Keep reading
“The Goblet of Fire”
Sometimes the mundane events of life hide extraordinary phenomena. This award-winning photograph by Sarang Naik shows yellow-brown spores streaming off a mushroom during monsoon season. The plume is abstract and Keep reading
Pump Problems
Pumps are a critical piece of infrastructure, but to keep them operating, engineers have to account for several potential pitfalls. In this Practical Engineering video, Grady discusses some of the Keep reading