Category: Art

“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 same time, many of his sequences illustrate the birth and death of these massive storms. As warm, moist air rises, a puffy cumulus cloud (below) swells upward as fresh moisture condenses. When it reaches a thermal cap and can rise no further, precipitation begins to fall, dragging surrounding air with it. This is the mature stage of a storm, when both updrafts and downdrafts exist simultaneously.
Eventually, the storm’s power begins to wane as the downdrafts cut off the updrafts that feed the storm. Sometimes this occurs in a massive downdraft where cool air sinks straight down and, upon encountering the ground, spreads radially outward. In dry regions, this outward burst of ground-level winds can pick up dirt, dust, and sand, forming a wall-like haboob (below) that advances past the remains of the storm. Watch the entire video to see some examples in their full glory! (Video and image credit: M. Olbinski, source; via Rex W.)
November 22, 2017
“Macrocosm”
In “Macrocosm” artist Susi Sie explores a liquid world of black and white. The two colors diffuse and mix to a soundtrack of “space sounds” recorded by NASA. (Most of these are probably ionic sound rather than sound as we’re used to, but even that is somewhat fluid dynamical.) The result is beautiful, surreal, and more than a little creepy. Happy Halloween! (Video and image credit: S. Sie)
October 31, 2017
Convection
Blue paint in alcohol forms an array of polygonal convection cells. We’re accustomed to associating convection with temperature differences; patterns like the one above are seen in hot cooking oil, cocoa, and even on Pluto. In all of those cases, temperature differences are a defining feature, but they are not the fundamental driver of the fluid behavior. The most important factors – both in those cases and the present one – are density and surface tension variations. Changing temperature affects both of these factors, which is why its so often seen in Benard-Marangoni convection.
For the paint-in-alcohol, density and surface tension differences are inherent to the two fluids. Because alcohol is volatile and evaporates quickly, its concentration is constantly changing, which in turn changes the local surface tension. Areas of higher surface tension pull on those of lower surface tension; this draws fluid from the center of each cell toward the perimeter. At the same time, alcohol evaporating at the surface changes the density of the fluid. As it loses alcohol and becomes denser, it sinks at the edges of the cell. Below the surface, it will absorb more alcohol, become lighter, and eventually rise at the cell center, continuing the convective process. (Image credit: Beauty of Science, source)
October 4, 2017
Songs in Soap
There are many beautiful ways to visualize sound and music – Chris Stanford’s fantastic “Cymatics” music video comes to mind – but this is one I haven’t seen. This visualization uses a soap film on the end of an open tube with music playing from the other end. You can see the set-up here. The result is a fascinating interplay of acoustics, fluid dynamics, and optics. As sound travels through the tube, certain frequencies resonant, vibrating the soap film with a standing wave pattern (3:20). At the same time, interference between light waves reflecting off the front and back of the soap film create vibrant colors that show the film’s thickness and flow.
When the frequency and amplitude are just right, the sound excites counter-rotating vortex pairs in the film (0:05), mixing areas of different thicknesses. With just a single note, the vortex pairs appear and disappear, but with the music, their disappearance comes from the changing tones. Watching the patterns shift as the film drains and the black areas grow is pretty fascinating, but one of the coolest behaviors is how the acoustic interactions are actually able to replenish the draining film (2:15). Because the tube was dipped in soap solution, some fluid is still inside the tube, lining the walls. With the right acoustic forcing, that fresh fluid actually gets driven into the soap film, thickening it.
There are several more videos with different songs here – “Carmen Bizet” is particularly neat – as well as a short article summarizing the relevant physics for those who are interested. (Video and research credit: C. Gaulon et al.; more videos here)
August 9, 2017
“Pursuit”
Photographer Mike Olbinski has released yet another breathtaking timelapse film of weather over the Great Plains. This one has a little bit of everything: storms, tornadoes, incredible cloud formations, and even sunny days. Olbinski’s work is a reminder that there’s a constant beautiful drama playing out over our heads if we just take the time to watch. Under blue skies, condensation and turbulence are building towering mountains, and even when the sky is gray, it can be churning like the ocean just over your head. The U.S. Great Plains may be home to particularly dramatic examples of this behavior (thanks largely to the atmospheric influence of the Rocky Mountains), but these same phenomena are going on all the time overhead. (Video and image credits: M. Olbinski)
August 1, 2017
“Fractal”
Timelapses are a wonderful way to capture the power and majesty of storms like the supercell thunderstorms featured in Chad Cowan’s “Fractal”. The video contains snapshots from six years’ worth of storms over the US’s Great Plains. The highlights include some spectacular mammatus clouds (0:30) and excellent billowing cloud formation (1:27) with turbulence every bit as towering as that of a volcanic plume. June is one of the best months for amazing storms in the Great Plains, largely thanks to the atmospheric mixing that occurs over the Rocky Mountains. If you have the opportunity to witness these amazing natural displays, enjoy it, but be safe! (Video credit: C. Cowan; image via Colossal)
July 4, 2017
“Galaxy Gates”
Viewing fluids through a macro lens makes for an incredible playground. In “Galaxy Gates”, Thomas Blanchard and the artists of Oilhack explore a colorful and dynamic landscape of paint, oil, and glitter. The nucleation of holes and the breakdown of sheets to filaments and droplets plays a major role in the visuals. The surface layer is constantly peeling away to reveal what’s going on underneath. In many cases this initial motion settles into a field of oil-rimmed droplets floating like planets against a colorful galactic backdrop. Watch carefully in the second half of the video, and you can even catch a few instances of a stretched ligament of fluid breaking into a string of satellite drops, like at 1:51. Check out some of Blanchard’s previous work here and here. (Video credit: Oilhack and T. Blanchard; GIFs and h/t to Colossal)

June 23, 2017
Graphene Swirls
Graphene powder swirls in alcohol in this prize-winning photo from this year’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council photography competition in the UK. The image was captured while producing graphene ink that can print circuits directly onto paper. According to the researcher’s description, this ink is forced through micrometer-sized capillaries at high pressure to rip the layers apart and produce a smooth, conductive ink in solution. In this photo, we seem to see more conventional mixing driven by the powder’s injection and the variations in surface tension due to the alcohol and its evaporation. The graphene leaves behind beautiful streaklines that highlight its path as it mixes. (Image credit: J. Macleod; via Discover)
June 16, 2017
Asperitas Sunset
Asperitas clouds, previously known as undulatus asperatus, are the most recently recognized cloud type. These clouds make the sky look like the ocean rolling in waves. Photographer Mike Olbinski, on a recent storm chase earlier this month, caught these spectacular asperitas clouds near sunset. The clouds’ effect is unusual under normal circumstances and completely surreal with this lighting. Check out the video for the full effect. Olbinski caught the clouds on the outskirts of a dying storm cell. That’s a common place to see these formations; despite their ominous appearance, they do not develop storms and are more often seen as storms are ending. (Video and image credit: M. Olbinski; h/t to Paul vdB)
June 8, 2017
Ferrofluid Microlandscapes
Ferrofluids are an ever-fascinating topic. Consisting of ferromagnetic nanoparticles suspended in a carrier fluid, ferrofluids are known for their bizarre behaviors in the presence of a magnetic field, like their tendency to form pointed peaks reminiscent of Bart Simpson’s hair. In a new Concept Zero video, photographer Linden Gledhill creates fascinating micro-landscapes using ferrofluids suspended in solvents. Driven by magnetic fields, the ferrofluids take on many shapes that change as the solvent and eventually the ferrofluid’s carrier fluid evaporate. Check out the full video above and, if you’re looking for some new decorations for your walls, you can check out the project’s fine art gallery. (Video and image credit: L. Gledhill and Concept Zero; submitted by L. Gledhill)
May 24, 2017