Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Rogue Wave Recreated
If you look online, the term “rogue wave” gets thrown around a lot – a whole lot. And most of the videos you see of “rogue waves”, “freak waves”, and “monster waves” are just, in fact, big waves. What makes a deep-water ocean wave a rogue, scientifically speaking, is that it is extreme compared to its…
Fluids Round-up
Last week was supposed to have a fluids round-up, but we were having too much fun walking on water instead. So here it is now! – NASA has asked Congress for funding for new X-plane programs to explore solutions for greener airliners and quieter sonic booms to enable next-generation air travel. Popular Science, Gizmodo, and Ars Technica take…
Molten Salt in Water
In his latest video, The Backyard Scientist explores what happens when molten salt (sodium chloride) gets poured into water. As you can see, the results are quite dramatic! He demonstrates pretty convincingly that the effect is physical – not chemical. The extreme difference in temperature between the liquid water (< 100 degrees Celsius) and the…
Webcast Teaser Reel
Saturday I topped off a week of water-walking physics by holding a webcast with Professor Tadd Truscott and PhD student Randy Hurd of The Splash Lab. We had an absolutely blast talking about skipping balls, aesthetics and art, sailing, STEM outreach, and much more. The video above is a short teaser for the webcast –…
Turbulent Convection
These golden lines reveal the complexity of turbulent convective flow. They come from a numerical simulation of turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection, a situation in which fluid trapped between two plates is heated from below and cooled from above. This situation would typically create convection cells similar to those seen in clouds or when cooking. Inside these…
Reader Question: The Flash
Reader pavlovs-dogs asks: About your running on water post, the show didn’t necessarily get it wrong when they said 1050kmph. You did not take into account that he was carrying another person. Adding another 60 kg or so. I can’t do the math right now, but I think that would come out fairly close to what…
Upcoming Webcast
Reminder: I’ll be doing a special webcast with Professor Tadd Truscott and PhD student Randy Hurd of The Splash Lab tomorrow Saturday, March 5th at 1pm EST! We’ll be talking about skipping elastic balls, people running on water, urine black holes, and much more. I will be posting the livestream link on Patreon tomorrow afternoon. If…
Humans Running on Water
How fast does a speedster like The Flash or Dash Parr from The Incredibles have to go to run on water? As we saw from other water-walkers like the basilisk lizard and the western and Clark’s grebes, any large creature wanting to run on water needs to generate the necessary vertical impulse by hitting the water…
Jumping Off Water
Many insects and arachnids can walk on water by virtue of their hydrophobicity and small size. With their light weight and skinny legs, these invertebrates curve the air-water interface like a trampoline, with surface tension providing the elasticity that keeps them afloat. What’s truly incredible, though, is that many of these creatures, like water striders,…
Grebe Rushing Physics
As capable a water-runner as the common basilisk is, the western and Clark’s grebe is even more impressive. Not only do these birds weigh up to three times as much as an adult basilisk, but they start their water-walking from inside the water, which requires overcoming much more hydrodynamic force. Like the lizards, grebes must slap…