Photographer Charles Brooks offers a rare glimpse into the interiors of musical instruments in this series. Whether stringed, wind, or percussion, an instrument’s unseen interior structure creates the acoustic resonance Keep reading
Month: December 2023
How a Leak Can Stop Itself
Some leaks can actually stop themselves, and a new analysis shows how. When a vertical pipe has a small hole, water initially spouts out of it, then dribbles, and, finally, Keep reading
Splash-Spread Mushrooms
Bird’s nest fungi are tiny — only about a centimeter wide. When mature, they form a curved splash cap containing spore sacs known as peridioles. Then they await rain. When Keep reading
Gathering Safely
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is a renewed interest in the physics of disease transmission and what measures can protect us from airborne respiratory illnesses. This recent study looks Keep reading
Predicting Contamination in Urban Environs
The canyons of a city’s streets form a complex flow environment. To better understand the risks of a spreading contaminant, researchers simulated a release in lower Manhattan’s urban jungle. The Keep reading
“Níłtsą́”
Living in the central and western United States, it’s easy to dismiss summer weather as just another storm, but the truth is that this region sees some of the most Keep reading
Washing By Vortex Ring
Spraying a surface clean with a jet of fluid can be an energy-intensive operation. But a recent experiment shows that pulsed flow — which creates vortex rings — could be Keep reading
Disease and Placental Flows
The human placenta functions as a life-support system for a growing fetus. Despite its frisbee-like appearance, the organ is packed with nearly 10 square meters of blood vessels. On the Keep reading
Sandgrouse Soak in Water
Desert-dwelling sandgrouse resemble pigeons or doves, but they have a very different superpower: males can soak in and hold 25 milliliters of water in their feathers, which they carry tens Keep reading
Stirring Up Sediment
In early February, Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle passed over the Bellona Plateau in the Coral Sea, stirring up sediment from the shallow reefs there. Once the storm cleared, large swirls of Keep reading