Monday morning Virgin Galactic and their partners at Scaled Composites reached a new milestone in their commercial sub-orbital spaceflight program, firing SpaceShipTwo’s main engine for the first time and accelerating Keep reading
Month: May 2023
Evaporation and Surface Effects
Surface properties can have surprising effects on fluid behavior. This image shows the evaporation of several droplets over time. All of the initial droplets are of the same volume, but Keep reading
Lifting Liquids
At very small scales, the interaction of solids and liquids is governed by molecular forces. Here researchers demonstrate how carbon nanowires of only a few nanometers in diameter draw liquid Keep reading
Wake Vortices at Night
The ends of an airplane’s wings generate vortices that stretch back in the wake of the plane. Most of the time these vortices are invisible, even if their effects on Keep reading
Tears of Wine
Wine drinkers may be familiar with the “tears of wine” often seen on the wall’s of a glass. The effect is a combination of evaporation and surface tension. As the Keep reading
Entering a Viscous Liquid
When a solid object impacts on a liquid a cavity typically forms, entraining air into the pool. But this behavior varies widely according to the surface of the solid as Keep reading
Internal Wave Demo
This video has a fun and simple demonstration of the importance of fluid density in buoyancy and stratification. Fresh water (red) and salt water (blue) are released together into a small Keep reading
Washing Your Face in Space
What happens to a wet washcloth when wrung out in space? Astronaut Chris Hadfield answers this question from students with a demonstration. Without gravity to pull the water downward, surface Keep reading
Turning Sound Into Imagery
The acoustic signatures of many animals contain features we humans cannot appreciate, given the limited range of frequencies we can hear. In fluid dynamics and many other fields, scientists and Keep reading
Explosions Underwater
Underwater explosions are, in general, much more dangerous than those in air. This video shows an underwater blast at 30,000 fps. During the initial blast, a hot sphere of gas Keep reading