Schlieren optical systems have been used to visualize shock waves in labs for more than a century, but the technique did not translate well to photographing shock structures outside the Keep reading
Month: March 2025
“The Chase”
Sometimes it takes timelapse photography to truly appreciate the dynamic behavior of our atmosphere. In “The Chase” Mike Olbinski, whose work we’ve featured previously, has captured some of the most Keep reading
Vapor Cones
Vapor cones typically appear around aircraft flying in the transonic regime–near, but still below, the speed of sound. Air moving over the vehicle accelerates and decelerates as it moves around Keep reading
Fire Tornadoes
View this post on Instagram Saw a firewhirl for the first time last night. This sucker was shooting flames 100 ft in the air before it passed right in front Keep reading
Bubbles and Hurricanes
You may think of soap bubbles as a childhood plaything, but there’s a lot to be learned from them. In her newest video, Dianna of Physics Girl explores some of Keep reading
Turbulent Ink
Turbulence is found throughout our lives, but rarely is it as startlingly beautiful as in this Slow Mo Guys video. Here they show high-speed videos of ink being injected into Keep reading
Controlling Droplet Bounce
Water repellent, or hydrophobic, surfaces are common in nature, including lotus leaves, many insects, and even some geckos. These hydrophobic surfaces typically gain their water-repelling ability from extremely tiny nanoscale Keep reading
Flow Around a Delta Wing
Colorful streaks of dye wrap like ribbons along the leading edge of a delta wing. At an angle of attack, this triangular wing forms a set of vortices that run Keep reading
Leaping Mobulas
Mobula rays engage in some pretty incredible aerial acrobatics. This species of ray, second only to manta rays in size, can jump up to 2 meters into the air. Large Keep reading
Tides
Most of us think we understand why Earth’s oceans have tides, but it turns out that there are some misconceptions in the common explanation. Yes, it’s true that the moon’s Keep reading