The Semeru volcano rises in the background of this photo of Java’s Tumpak Sewa waterfall by Joan de la Malla. Rain that falls on the volcano slides down its flank Keep reading
Month: February 2025
Peering Inside a Hailstone
In spring and summer, major thunderstorms can include dangerous and destructive hailstones. In Catalonia, a group of scientists collected hailstones after a record-breaking 2022 storm, finding some as large as Keep reading
Instabilities in Competition
When two liquid jets collide, they form a thin liquid sheet with a thicker rim. That rim breaks into threads and then droplets, forming a well-known fishbone pattern as the Keep reading
Flow Behind Viscous Fingers
Nature is full of branching patterns: trees, lighting, rivers, and more. In fluid dynamics, our prototypical branching pattern is the Saffman-Taylor instability, created when a less viscous fluid is injected Keep reading
Mapping the Oceans With Seals
Elephant seals are harbingers — canaries in the coal mine — for climate change. A long-running experiment tracks northern elephant seal populations using a combination of sensor tags and field Keep reading
Bubbling Up
By volume, Lake Baikal is the world’s largest lake, holding over 20% of the planet’s fresh water. It’s also a major carbon sink, holding large amounts of methane. That’s the Keep reading
Tracking Meltwater Through Flex
Greenland’s ice sheet holds enough water to raise global sea levels by several meters. Each year meltwater from the sheet percolates through the ice, filling hidden pools and crevasses on Keep reading
The Underwater Effects of Volcanoes
Although volcanoes are typically located in or near the ocean, we’ve spent relatively little effort studying how eruptions affect the marine environment. A recent research voyage aimed to change that Keep reading
Swimming Like a Ray
Manta rays are amazing and efficient swimmers — a necessity for any large animal that survives on tiny plankton. Researchers have built a new soft robot inspired by swimming mantas. Keep reading
The Mystery of the Binary Droplet
What goes on inside an evaporating droplet made up of more than one fluid? This is a perennially fascinating question with lots of permutations. In this one, researchers observed water-poor Keep reading