The Dutch have been exceptional water engineers for centuries, a necessity in a country where more than a quarter of its territory lies below sea level. After a devastating flood Keep reading
Month: September 2024
The Wanderings of Micro-Scallops
In the 19th century, botanist Robert Brown observed pollen granules beneath his microscope jittering randomly. Einstein showed that this motion resulted from the impacts of much-smaller atoms against the particles. Keep reading
The Magic* Cork
*Spoiler alert: it’s not magic. It’s science! Just what makes this dropped cork float beneath the surface? Just like a normal cork, it’s buoyancy! But this seemingly straightforward video is Keep reading
As the Fog Rolls In
Although we talk about fog rolling in, it’s rare for us to have a perspective where we can truly appreciate that flow. But this photograph from Tanmay Sapkal provides just Keep reading
Why Watering Globes Are Hard to Fill
If you’re leaving home for a few days and want to keep your houseplants happy, you may have tried using a watering globe – those glass bulbs with long stems Keep reading
Oil Drops and Filter Feeders
Natural oils provide critical nutrients to filter feeders like zooplankton and barnacles. These creatures capture oil droplets on bristle-like appendages such as cilia and setae. But this droplet-catching turns into Keep reading
Hot Ice, Buoyancy Tricks, and More DIY Fun
Here’s a smorgasbord of DIY experiments from Dianna at Physics Girl. Some are fluidsy, some aren’t, but all of them give you a chance to stretch your science muscles at Keep reading
Testing Granular Gas Theory
When excited, a group of particles can behave much like a gas. These granular gases exhibit many similarities to molecular gases but contain one vital difference: without a constant input Keep reading
Centrifugal Instability
When it comes to geophysics, there are all kinds of phenomena that depend on rotation. In this short video, researchers demonstrate one such phenomena — the centrifugal instability — in Keep reading
Dendritic
“What happens when two scientists, a composer, a cellist, and a planetarium animator make art?” The answer is “Dendritic,” a musical composition built directly on the tree-like branching patterns found Keep reading