In this flow visualization, wingtip vortices from an aircraft have been simulated using an apparatus with a couple of flaps that snap together like a book closing. Dye is pooled Keep reading
Month: March 2025
Paper Plane Physics
[original media unavailable] It’s a little surprising that this would be so stable, but I don’t have any reason to believe it impossible. #
Wild Ferrofluid Shapes
In this fluid experiment, a ferrofluid–typically a liquid with a suspension of ferric particles–is exposed to rotating magnetic fields, which results in some wild shapes. #
Benard Cells
When a fluid in a gravitational field is heated from below, it can develop a Rayleigh-Benard instability which causes the formation of convection cells as in the video above. The Keep reading
Human-Powered Ornithopter
A team at the University of Toronto has flown the world’s first human-powered ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings like a bird. The concept dates back all Keep reading
Breaking up in Crossflow
This video shows some instabilities that occur when a liquid jet impinges on a flowing cross stream. Note how the jet breaks down into droplets in a fashion similar to Keep reading
Supersonic
Moving supersonically–faster than the local speed of sound–can cause some awesome effects. Among these are vapor cones (a.k.a. Prandlt-Glauert singularities), shock waves, and, of course, the sonic boom.
Magnetohydrodynamics
Fluid dynamics play an important role in understanding phenomena like sunspots and solar prominences. The subfield of fluid dynamics concerned with the motion of electrically conducting fluids, like the plasma Keep reading
How to Blow Bubble Rings
Next time you’re at the pool, join the dolphins, moss, and volcanoes in blowing vortex rings. Here’s how: first, squeeze your lips like you’re going to give someone a kiss. Keep reading
Mentos & Diet Coke in Microgravity
For a little Friday fun, consider this microgravity experiment conducted aboard the infamous Vomit Comet: what happens when you combine Diet Coke and Mentos in microgravity? For the record, I Keep reading