Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Pressure At The Dam
Hydrostatic pressure in a fluid is based on the fluid’s depth. You’ll rarely see a more dramatic example of that power than with a water release from a dam. Here we see the outlet of the Verbund Hydro Power dam in Austria. With 190 meters of water behind the dam, the outlet jet is massive.…
“Heterochromia Iridum”
Heterochromia iridum is the formal name for when a person’s irises are multi-colored, often with streaks or swirls of one color cutting through another. In this short film, photographer Rus Khasanov recreates the effect with glittery inks and paints. Their varying surface tensions help create the eye-like streaks and feathers through the Marangoni effect. Check…
Probing Saturn’s Interior
Saturn’s rings are one of the most iconic sights in our solar system, and scientists are using them to learn more about the planet they surround. Until recently, scientists believed that gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter have dense, rocky cores buried beneath their gassy atmospheres. But a new study of Saturn’s rings suggests that…
Zuiderzee Works
Few countries have to contend with water the way the Netherlands does. With 26% of its area and 21% of its population living below sea level, water control is critical. This satellite image shows some of the natural and manmade features that help protect the landscape. The West Frisian Islands, the long spine-like archipelago seen…
Taking A Turn
Water droplets immersed in a mixture of oil and surfactants will move about, propelled by the Marangoni effect. Surfactant molecules congregate along the interface between the water and oil, but they do not do so uniformly. This uneven grouping causes variations in the surface tension, which in turn creates flows inside the droplet from areas…
How Sinkholes Form
Growing up in the Ozarks, I explored my fair share of caves and sinkholes. These geological features form when flowing groundwater erodes soil, sand, and even rock underground. The Ozark Plateau consists largely of limestone, which is water soluble, making it very prone to this internal erosion. As bedrock dissolves away, it is eventually unable…
“Stranded”
The advantage of flying a drone over a volcanic eruption is getting all of the beauty with none of the danger. No asphyxiating on sulfuric gases, no burns from intense heat, no ash or flying rocks. Just the stunning, glowing beauty of fresh earth being born. “Stranded” takes us over and around the recent Icelandic…
Stingray Eyes
With their flexible, flattened shape, rays are some of the most efficient swimmers in the ocean. But, at first glance, it seems as if their protruding eyes and mouth would interfere with that streamlining. A new study uses computational fluid dynamics to tackle the effects of these protrusions on stingray hydrodynamics. With their digital stingrays,…
Starlings Over Rome
Each winter millions of starlings migrate to Rome, where they form enormous murmurations in the sky above. The ephemeral and amorphous displays are driven by each bird responding to its neighbor’s motions. But the slight delay in individual responses gives the flock as a whole a wave-like, fluid appearance. Behaviors like this help protect the…
Twisting Free
Anyone who’s dealt with hot glue guns is familiar with the long, thin tails of glue they leave behind. 3D printers suffer from a similar problem with the nozzle pulls away from viscoelastic materials like plastics and polymers. Little tails, like the ones seen above, are left behind on the part and must be cleaned…