Yesterday marked the launch of a new constellation of eight microsatellites, the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), designed to monitor hurricanes in Earth’s tropics. The constellation will provide unprecedented Keep reading
Year: 2025
The Sound of a Balloon Popping
The pop of an overfilled balloon is enough to make anyone jump, but you’ve probably never seen it like this. The photo above uses an optical technique known as schlieren Keep reading
Freezing Drops
A water droplet deposited on a cold surface freezes from the bottom up. As anyone who has made ice cubes knows, water expands when it freezes. But watch the outline Keep reading
“Oil Spill”
In “Oil Spill” artist Fabian Oefner explores the shapes and colors of oil floating atop water. An old adage tells us that oil and water don’t mix, but this is not Keep reading
Inside Cavitation
Cavitation bubbles live a short and violent life. It begins when a low-pressure void forms in a fluid–for example, when a liquid is accelerated so that the pressure drops below Keep reading
Ink Drops Spreading
Ink drops atop a layer of glycerol spread in a beautiful fan of blue and white. The ink’s motion is the result of two processes: molecular diffusion and the Marangoni Keep reading
Jovian Poles
NASA’s Juno mission has been revealing a side of Jupiter we’ve never seen before. We all recognize the familiar stripes of the planet’s cloud bands, but its poles are entirely Keep reading
Water Bottle Flipping Physics
Water bottle flipping has become quite the craze, and in a recent video The Backyard Scientist presented his own take on the subject, testing whether you could flip a bottle Keep reading
Laser Goggles for Parrotlets
Many experimental techniques in fluid dynamics use lasers. One such technique, particle image velocimetry (PIV), introduces tiny particles into the flow and uses a laser to illuminate the particles. By Keep reading
Linear Dunes
The Namib desert of southern Africa is home to some of the most stunning dunes on Earth. They are primarily linear dunes, which form parallel to the winds that form Keep reading