When it comes to stability, nature can be amazingly counter-intuitive, as in this case of flotation on the underside of a levitating liquid. First things first: how is this liquid Keep reading
Hudson Bay Watercolors
Rivers sweep fresh water and sediment into the Hudson Bay in this satellite image. Dark brown plumes mark the mouths of several coastal rivers as they add to the cyclonic Keep reading
“The Unseen Sea”
San Francisco’s picturesque fogs form “The Unseen Sea” in Simon Christen’s timelapse. Viewed at the right speed, the motion of clouds becomes remarkably ocean-like, with standing waves and surges against Keep reading
Synchronizing Microfluidic Drops
In nature, synchronization occurs when oscillators interact. A group of metronomes shifting to tick in unison is a classic example. Here, the system is a microfluidic T-junction and the oscillators Keep reading
Dead Water
In the days before motorized propulsion, sailors would sometimes find themselves slowed nearly to a stop by what they called ‘dead water‘. As discovered in laboratory experiments over a century Keep reading
Hydrodynamic Bearings
If you twirl a glass syringe, it spins quite nicely, lubricated on a micron-thin layer of air. This is an example of a hydrodynamic bearing, a device where the viscosity Keep reading
Collecting Animal Tears
Like humans, most vertebrates rely on tear films to keep their eyes moist and protected from the environment. But compared to humans, some animals’ tears have superior staying power. The Keep reading
Coalescing Drops
This year’s Nikon Small World in Motion competition was won by fluid dynamics! The first place video shows droplets on a superhydrophobic surface coalescing. The droplets are a mixture of Keep reading
Colorful Kelvin-Helmholtz Clouds
Like breaking waves at the beach, these wavy clouds curl but only for a moment. The photo was captured near sunset on a late August evening in Arlington, MA. This Keep reading
Making a Miniature River
Despite wide differences in ecology and geology, rivers around the world share certain fundamental features. Physicists study these characteristics by creating small-scale rivers in the laboratory, like the experiment featured Keep reading