Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Stopping a Bounce
One way to damp a bouncing ball is to partially fill it with a fluid (a) or granular material (b). For the fluid, the initial impact sloshes the liquid. That doesn’t change the trajectory of the initial bounce noticeably, but it interferes with the second impact, drastically damping the rest of the ball’s bounces until it comes…
Plate Tectonics
We don’t typically think of the ground beneath our feet as anything but solid, but over geologically long time scales, even mountains can flow. Buoyant convection inside the Earth’s mantle is thought to drive the plate tectonics that have shaped the Earth as we know it. The video above explains some of the major processes…
“Monsoon IV”
It’s a cliché to claim that the sky is bigger in the American West, but the wide, open views in that region do offer a very different perspective on weather. Photographer Mike Olbinski’s works give viewers a taste of that perspective of far-off thunderstorms, towering anvil clouds, and massive downpours in the distance. At the…
Revealing Stress
What goes on inside of a granular material like sand when an object moves through it? Individual grains will shift and may impact one another or simply slide past. Researchers use special photoelastic materials to see these forces in action. A photoelastic material responds to changes in stress by polarizing light, revealing areas of stress…
Blowing Bubbles in Space
Blowing bubbles in your fruit juice is a bad idea when you’re in space, as astronaut Jack Fischer demonstrates. On Earth, gravity dominates water’s behavior, except when things are very small. But in microgravity, a liquid’s other characteristics become more obvious. Adhesion between the straw and juice guides it up and onto Fischer’s face. Surface tension is…
APS DFD 2017
This year’s American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting starts this Sunday. I have a couple events scheduled: – Student Lunch, Monday, November 20, 12:55-13:45 (sold out) – FYFD: Getting started in science communication, Monday, November 20, 16:44-16:57, Four Seasons Ballroom Yes, the ballroom! If you’ve ever struggled to get into an FYFD talk,…
Lagoon Flows
The meeting of land and sea often creates a rich and colorful environment. This satellite image shows Mexico’s Laguna de Términos, a coastal lagoon off the Gulf of Mexico. A skinny barrier island forms the lagoon’s two connections to the ocean; the eastern side is the usual inlet (right), while the western side forms an…
FYFD Merch!
FYFD now has an online store! Whether you’re into stickers or t-shirts, experimental fluid dynamics or CFD, we’ve got you covered. I’m running a special introductory sale through December 15th – holiday shopping anyone? – so it’s a great time to grab some merch! See a design you want available on more products? Got a concept…
Pigeon Flutter
Birds are well-known for their vocalizations, but this isn’t their only way to produce noise. A new study on crested pigeons finds that the birds’ wings produce distinctive high and low notes during take-off. A low note takes place during each upstroke, and a high note is heard during the downstroke. A major source of…
Oceans of Clouds
One of the most amazing things about fluid dynamics, in my opinion, is that the same rules apply across an incredible array of situations. The equations of motion are the same whether your fluid is water, air, or honey. Your flier can be a Cessna airplane or a fruit fly; again, the equations are the…