“Columbia” is a music video illustrated with fluid dynamics, chemistry, and biology by the Beauty of Science team. It’s got everything from precipitation to crystallization, from infrared imagery of wakes to timelapses of growing molds. How many phenomena can you identify? (Video and image credit: Beauty of Science)
Water and sediments swirl in these enhanced satellite photos of China’s Leizhou Peninsula. Color-filtering algorithms have drawn out the details of the flows, but the patterns themselves are real. Tides, currents, sediment, and human activity combine to form these complex flows along the peninsula’s shores. The straight parallel lines seen off Liusha Bay, for example, are likely the result of a traditional fishing method using nets suspended off poles anchored into the seabed. (Image credit: N. Kuring; via NASA Earth Observatory)
In “Geodaehan” Roman De Giuli’s macro fluid art mimics massive landscapes. The film takes us over deltas, rivers, glaciers, and landslides. Some look like earthbound locations, others look like something from Mars or Titan. All are, in fact, paint, ink, and glitter on paper! It’s truly incredible how artists capture large-scale fluid physics on such a tiny canvas. (Image and video credit: R. De Giuli)
Today’s cameras and drones capture volcanic eruptions in ways that were unthinkable in years past. This incredible footage shows the recent eruption in Iceland as it glows in the night. I love the crisp details of the flow. You can clearly see how the hotter, molten lava moves compared to the cooling crust. There’s some great footage of spurting fountains and blocks of lava getting swept along by the river. Enjoy! (Image and video credit: B. Steinbekk; submitted by jpshoer)
Radiation is invisible, but it’s not too difficult to build an apparatus that lets you see it. This video shows the ghostly aftermath of passing radiation in a cloud chamber, one of the first set-ups used to study radiation. The chamber contains a radioactive source and chilled isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol forms a supersaturated vapor — essentially a cloud in waiting — inside the chamber.
When a radioactive particle gets emitted from the source, it streaks through the chamber, colliding with atoms and ionizing them. Those ions then serve as nucleation sites where alcohol condenses into droplets. It’s these condensation trails that we see bloom and decay in the particle’s wake. (Image and video credit: L. Gledhill)
Filmmaker Chris Bryan captures surfer Kipp Caddy as he rides an enormous wave in “Dancing With Danger.” Nothing quite captures the majesty of these powerful flows like high-speed videography. Enjoy the break, the spray, and those awesome rib vortices. (Image and video credit: C. Bryan)
“Radiolarians” is a short film by artist Roman De Giuli using ink, alcohol, and oil. Much of the fluid motion involves break-up into droplets. The effects appear to rely heavily on Marangoni bursting, the physics of which you can learn about in this previous post. (Image and video credit: R. De Giuli)
“Liquid Skies” by Roman De Giuli is full of colorful but nebulous fluid imagery. The visuals consist of liquids like paint, ink, and alcohol filmed in macro atop paper. You can catch a behind-the-scenes glimpse of De Giuli at work here. (Image and video credit: R. De Giuli)
Sandro Bocci’s short film “Flux Capacitor” explores the geometry and dynamics of soap films. When you dip wire models into soapy solution, the films that cling to the model can form complicated shapes as surface tension works to minimize the overall surface area. Bocci’s macro photography highlights the intense flows going on in the narrow regions where films meet. It’s a different take on soap films and neat to see! (Image, video, and submission credit: S. Bocci et al.)
In Thomas Blanchard’s “Mini Planets” oil-coated paint droplets swirl on colorful backgrounds. With band-like streaks, they truly do look like miniature planets rotating. I love that a few of them even have distinctive vortices! (Image and video credit: T. Blanchard)