Photographer Jason Wright captures dramatic views of Hawaiian landscapes. Moments like these remind us of the spectacular power of the ocean and atmosphere around us. Just look at all that incredible turbulence! Keep reading
Month: December 2024
Superheating
Being hot isn’t always enough to make water boil. To form vapor bubbles, water and other liquids need imperfections that serve as seeds. In the absence of these, the liquid Keep reading
Waterspouts
Despite their ominous appearance, these waterspouts – like most of their kind – are fair-weather phenomena unrelated to tornadoes. They can form when cold, dry air moves over warm waters. As warm, Keep reading
Avoiding Shear Thickening
Many substances – like the cornstarch and water mixture above – exhibit a property called shear-thickening. In these fluids, deforming them quickly causes the viscosity to increase dramatically. That shear-thickening occurs when particles Keep reading
Seeing Sound
It’s not always easy to imagine how waves travel, but with this demonstration, you can see sound waves and how they reflect and defract. The set-up uses schlieren optics that show light Keep reading
Making Giant Soap Bubbles
Making soap bubbles is fun, but there’s something about gigantic soap bubbles that brings out the child in everyone. The world’s largest freestanding soap bubble had more than 100 square meters of Keep reading
How to Build a Lava Moat
If you’re looking for a new and impractical way to protect your home, here’s a great option: a lava moat. Nothing says “Don’t try to knock on my door” like Keep reading
“Emergence”
Artist Susi Sie explores fluidic worlds through her macro lens. In “Emergence,” her focus is on ferrofluids immersed in other liquids. Beginning with tiny droplets traversing the thin fluid channels of a foam, she allows the Keep reading
Escaping the Limits of Viscosity
For large creatures, it’s not hard to feel the evidence of someone else swimming nearby. But to tiny swimmers water is incredibly viscous and hard to move. These creatures have Keep reading
Why Do Backwards Wings Exist?
Over the years, there have been many odd airplane designs, but one you probably haven’t seen much is the forward-swept wing. While most early aircraft featured straight wings, rear-swept wings are Keep reading