Though they look like jellyfish or space creatures, these images from photographer Linden Gledhill are actually explosions. What you’re seeing is the detonation of hydrogen gas with oxygen. The teal sphere with its wavy surface marks the flame front, and the crisp, stringy edges seen here and there in the foreground are the remains of a soap bubble that held the hydrogen before it sparked. You can see a similar set-up (using methane rather than hydrogen) in action here, and you can see other artistic takes on combustion in previous posts like this one. (Image credit: L. Gledhill, Flickr)
Celebrating the physics of all that flows