[original media no longer available] New fissures opened on Mount Kilauea in Hawaii earlier this month, resulting in some fountain-like eruptions of lava. This molten rock is a non-Newtonian fluid Keep reading
Month: February 2025
Air Force Gears Up For Hypersonic Missile Test
Air Force Gears Up For Hypersonic Missile Test The U.S. Air Force has announced another test of the X-51 Waverider coming up on March 22nd. This will be the latest Keep reading
Propeller Cavitation
Gas bubbles can form in a flowing liquid in areas where the pressure drops below its vapor pressure. This process, called cavitation, is a major problem for engineers because the Keep reading
Aerodynamics with Bill Nye and Samuel L. Jackson
Bill Nye, Samuel Jackson, golf balls, Reynolds number, dimples, and boundary layers. It doesn’t get much better than this. – Khristopher O (submitter) It definitely beats Jackson’s other foray into Keep reading
Tsunami Simulation
This simulation shows how tsunami waves are expected to spread from the epicenter of the Japanese magnitude-8.9 earthquake. Note the complicated interference and reflection patterns. The main wavefront moved at a speed Keep reading
Earthquake-induced Whirlpool
In the wake of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan today, a massive whirlpool has appeared off the coast. It does not appear to have a downdraft, so it’s not Keep reading
Solar Prominence
[original media no longer available] In this stunning video of a solar flare and prominence captured by NASA’s SDO mission, plasma erupts from the surface of the sun preceded by Keep reading
Discovery Wingtip Vortices
Wingtip vortices mark the path of Discovery as she makes her final landing. Though not always visible, these vortices are generated by any lifting body planform and can be a Keep reading
Hungarian Fire Tornado
This fire tornado formed over a burning plastic-processing plant in Hungary a week ago. Fire tornadoes aren’t rare, but footage of them is because they typically occur amidst wild conflagrations. Keep reading
High-Speed Cooking
I suspect demonstrating fluid mechanics was not what this cookbook had in mind when they filmed creamer poured into coffee at 2000 fps, but there’s some awesome droplet breakup, crowning, Keep reading