James Bond notoriously orders his martinis “shaken, not stirred,” a request bartenders fulfill by shaking the cocktail over ice in a separate shaker. But what if you shake the martini Keep reading
Month: December 2023
Eroding the Sphinx
One theory suggests that the Great Sphinx of Giza formed — in part — naturally as a result of erosion, and ancient Egyptians added features to the bedrock formation. To Keep reading
“Chaosmosis”
After many years of featuring work from the Gallery of Fluid Motion, I’m excited to announce a new public exhibition of art drawn from the competition: “Chaosmosis: Assigning Rhythm to Keep reading
Viscoelasticity and Bubbles
Bursting bubbles enhance our drinks, seed our clouds, and affect our health. Because these bubbles are so small, they’re easily affected by changes at the interface, like surfactants, Marangoni effects, Keep reading
Red Sprites
Sprites, or red sprites, are high-altitude electrical discharges in the atmosphere. Although sometimes called upper-atmospheric lightning, sprites are a cold plasma phenomenon. They often occur in clusters, as in this Keep reading
Bravo!
Applauding is a familiar activity, but, as you stand for an encore in the concert hall, do you think about how you hold your hands and how that affects your Keep reading
Snake Tracks
Moving across sand is quite challenging for bipedal creatures like us, but other animals have their ways. Photographer Paul Lennart Schmid caught this snake on the move, with impressions of Keep reading
Spreading Spores
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of much bigger, largely underground fungi. Being fruit, mushrooms have the job of spreading spores so that the fungus can reproduce. Some mushrooms rely on Keep reading
Dancing Peanuts
Bartenders in Argentina sometimes entertain patrons by tossing a few peanuts into their beer. Initially, the peanuts sink, but after a few seconds they rise, wreathed in bubbles. Once on Keep reading
Frozen Ripples
Normally, freezing is a slow enough process that transient phenomena like ripples get smoothed out. But with the right conditions, even ripples can get frozen in time. This picture shows Keep reading