Fungal spores sketch out minute air currents in this shortlisted photograph by Avilash Ghosh. The moth atop a mushroom appears to admire the celestial view. In the largely still air Keep reading
Month: March 2025
Quick-Drying, Fast-Cracking
Water droplets filled with nanoparticles leave behind deposits as they evaporate. Like a coffee ring, particles in the evaporating droplet tend to gather at the drop’s edge (left). As the Keep reading
Behind the San Antonio River Walk
How do you manage necessary updates to an iconic landmark like the San Antonio River Walk without disrupting its function? That’s the concept behind this Practical Engineering video, which shows Keep reading
An Exoplanet’s Supersonic Jet Stream
WASP-127b is a hot Jupiter-type exoplanet located about 520 light-years from us. A new study of the planet’s atmosphere reveals a supersonic jet stream whipping around its equatorial region at Keep reading
Galloping Bubbles
A buoyant bubble rises until it’s stopped by a wall. What happens, this video asks, if that wall vibrates up and down? If the vibration is large enough, the bubble Keep reading
“Lively”
In “Lively,” filmmaker Christopher Dormoy zooms in on ice. He shows ice forming and melting, capturing bubbles and their trails, as well as the subtle flows that go on in Keep reading
Explosively Jetting
Dropping water from a plastic pipette onto a pool of oil electrically charges the drop. Then, as it evaporates, it shrinks and concentrates the charges closer and closer. Eventually, the Keep reading
How CO2 Gets Into the Ocean
Our oceans absorb large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Liquid water is quite good at dissolving carbon dioxide gas, which is why we have seltzer, beer, sodas, and other carbonated Keep reading
Flushing the Brain During Sleep
When we sleep, our brains flush out waste that builds up during our waking hours, but how this happens has been something of a mystery. A new study of sleeping Keep reading
A Pitcher Plant’s Rain-Triggered Trap
Pitcher plants all use slippery rims and sticky digestive juices to capture and trap their insect prey. But two species of pitcher plant independently evolved an extra trap: a rain-activated Keep reading