Ice is slippery. This is a fundamental fact we humans have dealt with so often that we rarely take the time to ask why. Other solids aren’t inherently slippery, so Keep reading
Year: 2025
Paint Spilling Physics
There is a remarkable amount of physics contained in art. In this video, scientists from The Splash Lab explore some of the physics involved in pouring paint atop a rectangular Keep reading
Erie Waves
Photographer Dave Sandford braved the cold and turbulent waters of Lake Erie in late fall to capture some remarkable wave action. Like on the ocean, waves in the Great Lakes Keep reading
Superhydrophobic Coatings
Superhydrophobic–or water repellent–materials are much sought after. Their remarkable ability to shed water is actually mechanical in nature–not chemical. Surfaces with a highly textured microstructure, like a lotus leaf or Keep reading
Growing Snowflakes
Watching a snowflake grow seems almost magical–the six-sided shape, the symmetry, the way every arm of it grows simultaneously. But it’s science that guides the snowflake, not magic. Snowflakes are Keep reading
When Jets Collide
Two liquids that collide don’t always coalesce. The image above shows two jets of silicone oil colliding. On the left, the jets collide and bounce off one another. On the Keep reading
Simulating the Earth
Computational fluid dynamics and supercomputing are increasingly powerful tools for tracking and understanding the complex dynamics of our planet. The videos above and below are NASA visualizations of carbon dioxide Keep reading
Falling Atop Sheets
A sphere falling into water is a classic problem in fluid dynamics, but scientists are becoming increasingly interested in what happens when they introduce new dimensions to the problem. Here Keep reading
Resonating with the Windows Down
Ever roll down your window a bit while driving and immediately hear a terrible, rhythmic noise? That awful whum-whum-whum is–oddly enough–an example of the same physics that allows you to Keep reading
Visualizing Flow with Snowfall
One of the challenges in engineering and operating wind turbines is that full-scale turbines rarely behave as predicted in smaller-scale laboratory experiments and simulations. One way to reconcile these differences Keep reading