Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Feathered Fighter Jets
Peregrine falcons are built for speed. They’ve been clocked at more than 380 kilometers per hour when diving. This video from Deep Look examines some of the features that make these birds of prey so fast, from the shape of their eyes to the tubercles in their nostrils that help them breathe during high-pressure dives. Part of the…
Grayscale Aurora
This swirling grayscale image shows a spring aurora over the Hudson Bay, as seen by the Suomi NPP satellite. As energetic particles from the sun zip past Earth, they interact with our magnetosphere, which tends to channel particles toward the poles. At these higher latitudes, some of the particles get trapped along Earth’s magnetic field lines and crash into…
Splashes on Hairy Surfaces
The question of whether a droplet will splash is a complicated one, even for smooth surfaces, but researchers are also interested in what happens to hairy surfaces when droplets strike. By varying the droplet viscosity and speed, along with the spacing of the hairs, researchers sketched out the variety of impacts one can get. What…
Hiding From Waves
Ocean waves can be dangerous for boats, particularly when operating near off-shore platforms. But a new study, inspired by electromagnetic waveguides, demonstrates a lab-scale water waveguide capable of damping out a range of waves experienced by any ship inside its protected area. The water waveguide sits below the surface, changing the water depth and therefore the propagation…
Seeing with Sound
Sound carries rich information about the environment through which it’s traveled. And while many sighted people never take the time to notice this, using sound to build a mental picture of the surrounding world is something many blind people do constantly, either by studying how sounds produced by others change (passive echolocation) or by using…
Blowing Smoke
It’s unusual – but not entirely unheard of – to see volcanoes blowing smoke rings during inactive periods. But given their unpredictability, scientists had not studied this phenomenon in much depth. In a recent presentation, though, a group unveiled results from numerical studies of volcanic vortex rings. They found that the decreasing pressure on rising magma allows dissolved gases to…
How Ant Stingers Work
Anyone who’s felt the sting of a fire ant knows it only takes an instant for this species to deliver a painful blow. Scientists are uncovering why that is using some of the first-ever high-speed footage of ant stingers in action. Stingers are actually made up of multiple separate pieces, including a central stylet and a pair…
Plasma Shock Waves
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections send out shock waves that reverberate through our solar system. But shock waves through plasma – the ionized, high-energy particles making up the solar wind – do not behave like our typical terrestrial ones. Instead of traveling through collisions between particles, these astrophysical shock waves are driven by interactions between moving, charged…
Collecting Dew
In areas of the world where fresh water is scarce, one potential source is dew collection. Scientists have been working in recent years on making overnight dew collection more efficient. The challenge is that drops won’t begin to slide down an inclined surface until they are large enough for gravity to overcome the surface tension forces…
“In Perpetual Motion”
“In Perpetual Motion” follows adventure photographer Krystle Wright underwater where the roiling of the ocean sometimes makes time seem to stop, transporting her to another place entirely. To me, the underside of the ocean’s surface evokes storm clouds and memories of sitting at the bottom of the pool staring up at the way light played…