Soil liquefaction is a rather unsettling process in which apparently solid ground begins moving in a fluid-like way after agitation. It occurs in loose sediments when the spaces between individual Keep reading
Month: March 2025
Spinning Polygons
Nature is full of surprising behaviors. If one imagines putting a bucket of water on a rotating plate and spinning it, one would expect the water’s free surface to take Keep reading
Sand Ripples
Wave motion in a bay or near a beach can cause significant sediment transport. Individual granular particles, like sand, can be lifted by the passage of a single wave, but, Keep reading
Knotting Vortices
Knots have long fascinated humans, appearing in art for thousands of years and generating entire fields of study. Until recently, however, the idea of a knotted fluid was purely theoretical. Keep reading
Happy 1000 Posts!
Today is FYFD’s 1000th post! It’s been a wild ride over the last three-and-a-half years and I cannot thank you all enough for coming along. I’m continually amazed by FYFD’s popularity Keep reading
Sochi 2014: Link Round-up
I’ve come across a lot of great links over the course of writing the #Sochi2014 series, and I want to highlight some of my favorites here. Be sure to check Keep reading
Sochi 2014: Speed Skiing
As FYFD wraps up coverage of #Sochi2014, let’s take a look at a winter sport not currently contested at the Olympics. This year’s Winter Games featured 12 new events. Speed Keep reading
Sochi 2014: Curling
Curling is rather unique among target-based sports because it allows athletes to alter the trajectory of their projectile after release. Curlers send 19 kg granite stones sliding across a pebbled ice Keep reading
Sochi 2014: Bobsledding
Today bobsledding is an sport rife with modern technology and design techniques. In recent years, companies better known for their expertise in automobiles and Formula 1 racing have become players Keep reading
Sochi 2014: Downhill Skiing
Like the athletes who compete on ice, skiers rely on a film of liquid beneath their skis to provide the low friction necessary to glide. The moisture results from the Keep reading