Despite their ubiquity and importance, we know surprisingly little about how clouds form. The broad strokes of the process are known, but the details remain somewhat fuzzy. One challenge is Keep reading
Month: November 2024
Flames in Freefall
Gravity is such an omnipresent force in our lives that we frequently forget how strongly it affects our daily experiences and how differently nature behaves without it. A wonderful example Keep reading
Island Wakes
One of my favorite aspects of fluid dynamics is watching how patterns repeat at all kinds of scales. The cotton-candy-colored image above is a false-color satellite image of the island Keep reading
Turning Sand Into a Fluid
Pumping air through a bed of sand can make the grains behave just like a liquid. This process is called fluidization. Air introduced at the bottom of the bed forces Keep reading
Jupiter’s Atmosphere
Jupiter’s atmosphere is fascinatingly complex and stunningly beautiful. This close-up from the Juno spacecraft shows a region called STB Spectre, located in Jupiter’s South Temperate Belt. The bluish area to Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Sea Turtles
It’s easy to imagine sea turtles as slow and awkward given our familiarity with their terrestrial cousins, tortoises, but this could hardly be further from the truth. There are currently Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Diving Birds
One of my favorite things to do while we were sailing along the Galapagos was watching the blue-footed boobies hunt. Like the gannets shown above, boobies are plunge divers. They Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Lava Flows
The Galapagos islands are geologically similar to the Hawaiian islands; both are archipelagos that were born and continue to be formed by lava flows originating from a volcanic hot spot. Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Pistol Shrimp
One of the most striking things about snorkeling in the Galapagos was how loud it was underwater. There were hardly any boats nearby, but every time my ears dipped below Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Marine Iguanas
One of the most unique inhabitants of the Galapagos Islands is the marine iguana. These reptiles live in colonies of thousands and subsist entirely on marine algae. Smaller iguanas are Keep reading