In “Aurora”, artist Rus Khasanov uses fluids to create a short film full of psychedelic color and cosmic visuals. As in a soap bubble, the bright colors – as well as the pure black holes – come from the interference of light rays. The colors directly relate to the thickness of fluid, and they allow us to see all the subtle flows caused by variations in surface tension. (Video and image credit: R. Khasanov)
Although Thomas Blanchard’s latest short film, “-N- Uprising”, is less overtly fluid dynamical, fluids underlie almost every aspect of it. The blossoming of flowers is often driven by osmosis and water pressure. Spiders rely on hydraulic pressure to move their limbs, and many insects first unfurl their wings by pumping hemolymph through the network of veins that lace them. Even when hidden beneath the surface, fluid dynamics is everywhere. (Video credit: T. Blanchard; via Colossal)
Sometimes beautiful flows come from simple combinations. Here the artists of Chemical Bouillon combine ink and hydrocarbons to create lovely explosions of color. Eschewing quick cuts between views, they allow us to linger and explore the flow ourselves as it changes. Differences in surface tension drive streaming flows along the surface, but there seem to be some chemical reactions contributing as well. Watch along the edges and you may even see convection pulling ink down and back. The whole video is only 2 minutes long and worth a full watch. (Image and video credit: Chemical Bouillon)
Beautiful as a splash is, why only enjoy it from a single angle? In this video, the artists behind Macro Room offer a 360-degree perspective on various splashes and fluid collisions. I especially enjoy watching the splash crowns falling back over and out of the various containers they use. What’s your favorite part? (Image and video credit: Macro Room)
Known as ebru in Turkey and suminagashi in Japan, the art of paper marbling has flourished in cultures around the world since medieval times. The details of methods vary, but in general, the technique uses a base of oily water to float various dyes and pigments. Artists then use brushes, wires, and other tools to manipulate the dyes into the desired pattern. Paper is spread over the top to soak up the color pattern before being hung to dry. Every print made in this manner is a unique result of buoyancy, surface tension variation, and viscous manipulation. Check out the video above to watch a timelapse video showing the technique in action. (Video and image credit: Royal Hali)
The flickering yellow and orange flames most of us are used to thinking of are rather different from the flames researchers study. In this video, the Beauty of Science team offers a short primer on different flame shapes studied in combustion, including laminar, swirling, and jet flames. Each has its own distinctive character and may be advantageous or not, depending on the application for the flame. A laminar flame, for example, is steady, which might make it a good choice for something like a Bunsen burner, where consistency is needed. Whereas a turbulent flame is better capable of mixing fuel and oxidizer, which is key in applications like rocket engines, where that mixing can be a limiting factor in the engine’s efficiency. (Image and video credit: Beauty of Science)
Since the first cosmonauts and astronauts entered orbit around our planet, they’ve held a unique perspective. Thanks to the timelapse photography of recent astronauts aboard the ISS and the editing skills of photographer Bruce W. Berry, Jr, the rest of us can enjoy a taste of that viewpoint. Turn up the volume, fire up the big screen, and enjoy.
I particularly like how several of the sequences show off the depth of the atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere is incredibly thin compared to the size of our planet – less than one percent of Earth’s radius – but thanks to the shadows that clouds cast on one another, you can really appreciate their height in sequences like the one at 2:26. (Video credit: B. Berry, Jr. using NASA footage)
Because air and water are colorless and transparent, we cannot see most of the flows around us – but they’re always there. In a recent series, photographer Jess Bell has been capturing images of jumping dogs trailing a colorful powder wake. There’s no compositing in the photos. Bell puts powder on the dogs, then photographs them as they jump. The results show the billowing, turbulent wakes left by the dogs. I particularly like how you can see the stream of powder coming from some of the dogs’ ears. For more of Bell’s work, check out her website and Instagram. (Image credit: J. Bell; via PetaPixel and Rakesh R.)
Filmmaker Thomas Blanchard has once again released a beautiful, fluid-filled short to captivate us. Built from paint, oil, and liquid soap, “The Empire of C” feels like it gives viewers a birds-eye perspective over a fantastical land. I was particularly drawn to two fluid dynamical aspects of the film. The first were the dendritic sequences in the opening, which feel a bit like watching river deltas form in real time. Despite their resemblance to the Saffman-Taylor instability, I think these fingers are interfacially driven – meaning that they result from differences in surface tension between the different liquids Blanchard is using.
The second thing that caught my eye and made me rewind the video over and over were the glittery droplets. The glitter acts like tracer particles, allowing you to see the flow inside the droplets. Check out that counter-circulation compared to the paint flowing by outside! It’s a reminder that even inside a seemingly still droplet, there’s lots going on. (Video and image credit: T. Blanchard)
Photographer Ray Collins is known for his striking portraits of waves, some of which I’ve featured on previous occasions. Collins is colorblind, so he focuses heavily on shape and texture in the wave, which produces some stunningly dramatic views of moving water frozen in time. There’s great power and beauty in breaking waves, and researchers are still actively learning just how significant they are to our planet’s cycles.
Note the spray blurring the edges of every wave here; these are some of the largest droplets the wave will make. As it crashes forward, the wave traps pockets of air, and, as those bubbles burst, they will create a spray of tinier droplets that carry moisture and salt into the atmosphere to seed clouds and, eventually, rain.
Collins’ work reminds us both of the ocean’s power and its fragility as it undergoes rapid changes due to humanity’s influence. For more photos as well as a great interview with Collins, check out My Modern Met. (Image credit: R. Collins; via My Modern Met and James H.)