In “Macrocosm” artist Susi Sie explores a liquid world of black and white. The two colors diffuse and mix to a soundtrack of “space sounds” recorded by NASA. (Most of Keep reading
Month: March 2025
The Cheerios Effect
You’ve probably noticed that cereal clumps together in your breakfast bowl, but you may not have given much thought as to why. This tendency for objects at an interface to Keep reading
Forming Craters
Asteroid impacts are a major force in shaping planetary bodies over the course of their geological history. As such, they receive a great deal of attention and study, often in Keep reading
Lenticular Clouds
Lenticular clouds are peculiar enough that, for years, they’ve been mistaken for other things – often UFOs. These lens-shaped clouds tend to form near mountainous terrain, where air gets forced Keep reading
Lighting Engines
Combustion is complicated. You’ve ideally got turbulent flow, acoustic waves, and chemistry all happening at once. With so much going on, it’s a challenge to sort out the physics that Keep reading
Moving Fluids in the Right Direction
One challenge in creating miniature labs-on-a-chip is keeping fluids moving in the desired direction. The top image above shows red and blue droplets being moved toward one another on the Keep reading
Flow Inside Convection Cells
Looking at convective cells, it’s easy to think that they are still and unmoving. But when you add particles, their inner flow becomes obvious. Warm, light fluid moves up through Keep reading
Rheoscopic Flow Vis
One of the great challenges in visualizing fluid flows is the freedom of movement. A fluid particle – meaning some tiny little bit of fluid we want to follow – Keep reading
The Mist of Champagne
If you’ve ever popped open a chilled bottle of champagne, you’ve probably witnessed the gray-white cloud of mist that forms as the cork flies. Opening the bottle releases a spurt Keep reading
Building Liquid Circuits
Building microfluidic circuits is generally a multi-day process, requiring a clean room and specialized manufacturing equipment. A new study suggests a quicker alternative using fluid walls to define the circuit Keep reading