What makes drops of food coloring able to dance, chase, sort themselves, or align with one another? This unexpected behavior is a consequence of food coloring consisting of two mixed Keep reading
Month: September 2024
“Jack and the Giant”
This fantastic music video by Kim Pimmel is a beautiful merger of art and fluid dynamics. Using household goods (and some slightly more exotic ferrofluid), the video shows how mesmerizing Keep reading
Encapsulating Drops
Building and manipulating drops containing multiple chemicals is useful in pharmaceutical applications. But it can be a challenge to encapsulate multiple fluids without mixing them immediately. The research poster above Keep reading
Sand Dunes
Sand dunes form with a gentle incline facing the wind and a steeper slip face pointing away from the wind. Most slip faces are angled at about 30 to 34 Keep reading
Reader Question: When Mercury Meets Lava
Reader lucondri asks: What happens when mercury touches lava? That’s an interesting thought experiment, but hopefully no one tries it any time soon given mercury’s toxicity. So, what might happen? Keep reading
Magnetic Putty
Sometimes fluids are slow-moving enough that it takes timelapse techniques to reveal the flow. Fog is one example, and, as seen above, magnetic silly putty is another. The putty is Keep reading
When Lava Meets Ice
What happens when lava meets ice or water? Artists and geologists are working together to explore these interactions by melting crushed basalt and pouring it onto different substrates. Ice is Keep reading
Earth’s Aerosols
The motions of Earth’s atmosphere move more than just air and moisture. As seen in this animation built from NASA satellite data, the atmosphere also transports large amounts of small Keep reading
Reader Question: Rippling Runoff
Reader junolivi asks: When shallow water (like runoff from melting snow) flows across pavement, it creates small repeated wave-like ripples. What creates that texture and why isn’t it just a Keep reading
Martian Dust Devil
This photo from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter stares almost straight down a dust devil on Mars. Like their earthbound brethren, Martian dust devils form when the surface is heated by Keep reading