For bridges, deep-sea platforms, and marine wind turbines, engineers have to build secure foundations able to withstand extremely heavy loads. Just how do they do this? One technique — driven Keep reading
Month: September 2024
“Microscopic World”
So many natural processes take place right in front of us, but they’re too small and too fast to see. Here, the Beauty of Science team puts some of those Keep reading
Pterosaur Tail Vanes
Among vertebrates, pterosaurs were the first to achieve powered flight. Early pterosaurs have tail vanes — similar in appearance to the frills seen on some lizards — but later species Keep reading
The Shape of Rain
In our collective imagination, a raindrop is pendant shaped, wide at the bottom and pointed at the top. But, in fact, a falling raindrop experiences much more complicated shapes. Here, Keep reading
Jamming Soft Grains
Hard granular materials — sand, gravel, glass beads, and so on — can flow, but, in narrow regions or under large forces, they can also jam up, essentially turning into Keep reading
Martian Auroras
Auroras happen when energetic particles — usually from the solar wind — interact with the atmosphere. Here on Earth, they’re most often found near the poles, where our strong global Keep reading
“Ink In The Water. Mix One.”
In this ASMR video, black ink diffuses in water. When the video starts, the ink is so diffuse that it’s not apparent the video is playing backward. It’s only as Keep reading
Water Suspected Beneath Mars
The surface features of Mars — crossed by river deltas and sedimentary deposits — indicate a watery past. Where that water went after the planet lost its atmosphere 3 – Keep reading
Breaking Down a Water-Powered Timer
In his latest “cutaway” video, Steve Mould takes a look at how you can nest siphons to create a system that periodically flushes itself. This kind of water-powered timer is Keep reading
Shaped Splashes
When a raindrop hits a leaf, it spreads out into a rimmed sheet that breaks up into droplets. These tiny drops can carry dust, spores, and even pathogens as they Keep reading