There are few flows more violent than planetary re-entry. Crossing a shock wave is always violent; it forces a sudden jump in density, temperature, and pressure. But at re-entry speeds Keep reading
Category: Phenomena
South Island Sediments
In April and May late autumn storms ripped through Aotearoa New Zealand. This image shows the central portion of South Island, where coastal waters are unusually bright thanks to suspended Keep reading
Listening for Pollinators
Can plants recognize the sound of their pollinators? That’s the question behind this recently presented acoustic research. As bees and other pollinators hover, land, and take-off, their bodies buzz in Keep reading
Seeing the Sun’s South Pole For the First Time
The ESA-led Solar Orbiter recently used a Venus flyby to lift itself out of the ecliptic — the equatorial plane of the Sun where Earth sits. This maneuver offers us Keep reading
Evaporating Off Butterfly Scales
This award-winning macro video shows scattered water droplets evaporating off a butterfly‘s wing. At first glance, it’s hard to see any motion outside of the camera’s sweep, but if you Keep reading
“Droplet on a Plucked Wire”
What happens to a droplet hanging on a wire when the wire gets plucked? That’s the fundamental question behind this video, which shows the effects of wire speed, viscosity, and Keep reading
Ponding on the Ice Shelf
Glaciers flow together and march out to sea along the Amery Ice Shelf in this satellite image of Antarctica. Three glaciers — flowing from the top, left, and bottom of Keep reading
Cat’s Eye Halo
The Cat’s Eye Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the Draco constellation. At its center is a dying star. Seen here is the faint halo that stretches 3 light-years Keep reading
Artificial Reoxygenation
Phytoplankton blooms have blossomed in coastal waters around the world, driven by phosphorus and nitrogen in agricultural run-off. These large algal blooms deplete oxygen in the water, creating dead zones Keep reading
Melting in a Spin
The world’s largest iceberg A23a is spinning in a Taylor column off the Antarctic coast. This poster looks at a miniature version of the problem with a fluorescein-dyed ice slab Keep reading