Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Perturbations
At first glance, today’s video appears to have little to do with fluid dynamics since it’s a demonstration of interactions between magnets. But for those who’ve delved into the mathematics of fluid dynamics — especially subjects like perturbation theory — there’s a lot to appreciate here. In the video, we see systems of magnets constructed…
Liquid Sculptures
Snapshots of splashes are nothing new, but few have mastered the art of freezing incredible shapes in water the way Markus Reugels has. His splash photography is mind-boggling, especially knowing that he uses Photoshop only for minor corrections like contrast and removing sensor noise. Fortunately, he’s generous in sharing his expertise. Check out lots more…
Microscale Kelvin-Helmholtz
When we think of cavitation in a flow, we often think of it occurring at a relatively large scale — on the propeller of a boat, for example. But cavitation takes place on microscales, too, including around fuel-injection nozzles. In this study, researchers investigated submillimeter-scale cavitation using a flow through a tiny Venturi tube. What…
Florida’s Keys
Stretching from the southern tip of Florida, a chain of low-lying islands, known as keys or cays, formed underwater during a warm interglacial period some 125,000 years ago. Originally coral reefs and sand bars, the islands hardened and fossilized when sea levels dropped during an ice age. These natural-color satellite images hint at the keys’…
Encapsulating Drops
Sometimes a droplet needs a little protection while it’s traveling to its destination. When that’s the case, we often try to encapsulate it in a layer of material that won’t be affected by whatever environment the drop is traveling through. In this study, researchers aimed to give their drops not one but two layers of…
When Reservoirs Run Dry
With the ongoing megadrought in the U.S. Southwest, more and more reservoirs are reaching historic low water levels. So it’s worth asking: what happens when a reservoir runs dry? And what, exactly, does a reservoir do in the first place? In this Practical Engineering video, Grady tackles both questions and takes a look at the…
“Art of Paint”
Filmmaker Roman De Giuli is always coming up with spectacular and visually fascinating new ways to manipulate ink and other liquids. In “Art of Paint,” he applies thin layers atop a custom plate that can be tilted in any direction. The results sometimes resemble acrylic paint pours, sometimes Marangoni flows, and sometimes look more like…
Slow to Relax
Oobleck is a decidedly weird substance. Made from a dense suspension of cornstarch in water, oobleck is known for its mix of liquid-like and solid-like properties, depending on the force that’s applied. In a recent study, researchers took a look at what happens when you really push oobleck to the extreme. When the force applied…
The Tea Leaves Effect
If you’ve ever stirred a cup of tea with loose leaves in it, you’ve probably noticed that the leaves tend to swirl into the center of the cup in a kind of inverted whirlpool. At first, this behavior can seem counter-intuitive; after all, a spinning centrifuge causes denser components to fly to the outside. In…
Bubbles in Turbulence
In nature and industry, swarms of bubbles* often encounter turbulence in their surrounding fluid. To study this situation, researchers used numerical simulation to observe bubbles across a range of density, viscosity, and surface tension values relative to their surroundings. They found that density differences between the two fluids made negligible changes to the way bubbles…