Look closely at old paintings, and you’ll notice arrays of tiny, straight cracks that form as the paint dried. This sort of pattern formation during drying is not unusual. Here Keep reading
Month: May 2025
Robotic Research Facilities
One of the major challenges in fluid dynamics is the size of the parameter spaces we have to explore. Because many problems in fluid dynamics are non-linear, making small changes Keep reading
Envisioning Chemical Patterns
One of the most beautiful chemical reactions is the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, and it’s the subject of the latest video from Beauty of Science. Known colloquially as the BZ reaction, it Keep reading
Falling Drops and Forming Stalagmites
The vast stalactites and stalagmites found in caves take millennia to form. Mineral-rich water seeps down the icicle-like stalactites and then drips onto stalagmites below, each drop depositing a little Keep reading
An Introduction to the Reynolds Number
For those who’d like an overview of the mathematics involved in fluid dynamics, Numberphile has a lovely introduction, given by our friend Tom Crawford. The governing equations in fluid dynamics, Keep reading
Flow on Commercial Wings
Even in an era of supercomputers, there is a place for quick and dirty methods of flow visualization. Here we see a model of a swept wing like those seen on Keep reading
CU Flow Vis 2019
I love when science and art come together, which is why I’ve long been a fan of the Flow Vis course at CU Boulder. Some of my earliest posts on FYFD date from previous editions of Keep reading
Inside the Earth’s Mantle
Plate tectonics is a relatively young scientific theory, only gaining traction among geologists in the late 60s and early 70s. One key tenet of the theory is subduction where plates meet and one Keep reading
“Magic Fluids”
In his short film, “Magic Fluids,” Roman De Giuli uses cyan, magenta, and yellow paints to generate a rainbow of macro colors. All the fluid motion you see is a practical Keep reading
Understanding Wildfire
Wildfires are an ongoing challenge in the western United States, where droughts and warmer conditions have combined with a century of fire suppression to form perfect conditions for monstrous fires. It’s Keep reading