Microswimmers live in a world dominated by viscosity, and in viscous fluids, symmetric motion provides no propulsion. That’s why bacteria and other tiny organisms use cilia, corkscrew flagella, and other Keep reading
“Stream”
Roman De Giuli’s short film “Stream” explores a macro world of color and flow, with a few glimpses behind-the-scenes at how the visuals get made. The artistic canvas here is Keep reading
The Mobile Mud Spring of Niland, CA
What’s part geyser, part mud pot, and all creeping, unstoppable natural disaster? The Niland Geyser, known as the world’s only moving mud spring. Dianna explores this geological mystery in the Keep reading
Skipping Stone Physics
Skipping stones across water has fascinated humans for millennia, but incredibly, we’re still uncovering the physics of this game today. A recent paper built and experimentally validated a mathematical model Keep reading
The Intermittent Spring of Afton, WY
Yellowstone may get top billing, but Wyoming is home to more fluid dynamical wonders, like the world’s largest rhythmic spring. Located a little outside Afton, WY, Intermittent Spring — as Keep reading
Space Hurricanes
Researchers have observed their first “space hurricane” – a 1,000-km-wide vortex of plasma – in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Like conventional hurricanes, this storm featured precipitation (of electrons rather than rain), Keep reading
Light Painting
Light streams from the branches of trees in this series from photographer Vitor Schietti. The effect is created with a combination of fireworks, long-exposure photography, and compositing. I love how Keep reading
Where Does Stormwater Go?
Stormwater management is one of the biggest municipal challenges towns and cities face. Urban surfaces are largely impermeable, preventing rainwater from soaking into the ground. Instead roads, ditches, and channels Keep reading
Falling Beads
Liquids flowing down a fiber can form bead-like droplets that may sit symmetrically (a) or asymmetrically (b) on the fiber. In general, the asymmetric droplets appear as surface tension increases Keep reading
Reintroducing Beavers
Beavers are impressive ecological engineers and a keystone species for wetland environments. But in the UK, it’s been nearly 400 years since beavers were regularly found in the wild. In Keep reading