In 2008, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake in China caused the enormous Daguangbao landslide, which loosed over one cubic kilometer of rocks and debris. That material rushed down the mountainside, running more Keep reading
Month: May 2023
“The World Below”
Since the first cosmonauts and astronauts entered orbit around our planet, they’ve held a unique perspective. Thanks to the timelapse photography of recent astronauts aboard the ISS and the editing Keep reading
Bats in Ground Effect
As pilots can tell you, flying near the ground (or an open expanse of water) gives one an aerodynamic boost. Essentially, the surface acts like a mirror, reflecting and dissipating Keep reading
Inside a Wind Tunnel
When I was in graduate school, I worked in a facility known as the High-Speed Wind Tunnel Lab. We were located next door to the Low-Speed Wind Tunnel, and every Keep reading
Patterns of Flame
In nature, the way a system behaves often depends on multiple competing factors. This is particularly apparent for chemical reactions, some of of which can oscillate in wild patterns as Keep reading
Even Mountains Flow
Over about 5 months of 2018, the summit of Mount Kilauea slowly collapsed as the volcano erupted. Seen in timelapse, it’s a remarkable reminder of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’s Keep reading
The Sharpshooter Insect
The sharpshooter is a small, sap-sucking insect capable of consuming more than 300 times its body weight in fluid each day. To sustain that level of intake, the insect also Keep reading
Ice Cream Vortex
[original media no longer available] Here’s a fun demonstration of vorticity: sticking an ice cream cone in a bathtub vortex. Now, before someone points out that this is clearly a Keep reading
Keeping Bubbles Around
Bubbles don’t stick around in pure water. Surfactants are needed to stabilize the thin liquid film for longer than the blink of an eye. But that’s not necessarily the case Keep reading
Massive Worthington Jet
The FloWave facility in Scotland is one of the coolest ocean simulators out there. Equipped with 168 individual wave makers and 28 submerged flow-drive units, it’s capable of recreating almost Keep reading