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Search results for: “art”

  • Cavitation

    [original media no longer available]

    Cavitation–the formation and collapse of vapor-filled cavities within a liquid–occurs in a variety of natural and manmade applications. It can shatter bottles, wreak havoc with boat impellers, is used as a hunting mechanism by several shrimp species, and can even generate light and sound. It is the collapse of the cavitation bubble that can be so damaging, and this video shows how. In the experiment, researchers generate a cavitation bubble near the free surface–or, in other words, near the air-water interface. Pressure in the bubble is much lower than the pressure of the surrounding liquid, so the bubble collapses after the momentum from its initial generation is spent. Interaction with the surface generates a jet that projects downward and pierces the cavitation bubble as it collapses. As seen from 0:54 onward, the bubble’s collapse generates a shock wave that propagates outward from the bubble site. It’s this shock wave that so effectively damages materials and stuns underwater prey. (Video credit: O. Supponen et al.)

  • Filter-Feeding

    Filter-Feeding

    Sponges are filter-feeding marine animals that rely on water flow to obtain their nutrients and remove waste. By injecting non-toxic fluorescein dye at their base, one can visualize the flow they induce in the water. Only seconds after the dye is introduced, the sponges have pumped it in, through, and out. Different parts of the sponge filter particles of various sizes for food. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported, respectively, into and out of cells via diffusion. In this way, the sponge’s pumping fulfills digestive, respiratory, and excretory functions.  (Image credit: Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, source video; submitted by Jason C)

  • Light Paintings

    Light Paintings

    Photographer Stephen Orlando uses programmable LEDs to create light paintings. Here floating LEDs illuminate a track down a waterfall. In flow visualization terms, this is a pathline because it records the trajectory a particular particle followed through the flow. Streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines are all important concepts for interpreting fluid flow through visualization. To see more of Orlando’s light paintings, including some wonderful portraits of canoeing and kayaking, be sure to check out his galleries. (Photo credit: S. Orlando; via Colossal)

  • Beverage Bubbles Bursting

    Beverage Bubbles Bursting

    Fizzy drinks like soda and champagne have many bubbles which rise to the surface before bursting. When the film separating the bubble and the air drains and bursts, it leaves a millimeter-sized cavity that collapses on itself. That collapse creates an upward jet of fluid which can break into tiny aerosol droplets that disperse the aroma and flavor of the drink. Similar bubble-bursting events occur in sea spray and industrial applications, too. Researchers find that droplet ejection depends on bubble geometry and fluid properties such as viscosity. More viscous liquids, for example, generate smaller and faster droplets. Learn more and see videos of bubble-bursts at Newswise. (Image credit: E. Ghabache et al.)

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    Raindrops on Sand

    Here is a high-speed look at the impact of a raindrop on a sandy beach. In this case, a water droplet is falling on a bed of uniform glass beads, but the situation is effectively the same. Depending on the speed of the drop at impact, many types of craters are possible. The higher the impact velocity, the greater the momentum of the drop at impact and the more likely the drop is to tear apart when surface tension can no longer hold it together. Interestingly, there is remarkable similarity between the shape and behavior of these liquid drop impacts and those of a catastrophic asteroid impact. (Video credit: R. Zhao et al.)

  • Sound Interactions

    Sound Interactions

    Sound waves often interact with many objects before we hear them. Understanding and controlling those interactions is a major part of acoustic engineering. The animations above show shock waves–sound–from a trumpet interacting with different objects. The sound is made visible using the schlieren optical technique, allowing us to observe the reflection, absorption, and transmission of sound as it hits different surfaces. Fiberboard, for example, is highly reflective, redirecting the sound waves along a new path without a lot of damping. In contrast, the metal grid is only weakly reflective and a small portion of the incoming sound wave is transmitted through the grid. To see more examples, check out the full video, and, if you want to learn more about acoustics, check out Listen To This Noise.  (Image credits: C. Echeverria et al., source video)

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    Supercooling Water

    Supercooling is the process of lowering a fluid’s temperature below its freezing point without the fluid becoming solid. Though this may sound bizarre, it’s an effect you can recreate easily in your refrigerator, as detailed in the video above. Supercooling shows up in nature as well, particularly with water droplets at high altitudes. If a plane flies through supercooled water droplets, it can create icing problems on the aircraft’s wings. Alternatively, flying through supercooled water vapor can cause a hole-punch cloud to form when the vapor flash-freezes into snow. (Video credit: SciShow)

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    Van Gogh and Turbulence

    Turbulence is one of the great unsolved mysteries of classical mechanics. Many physicists and engineers have spent their careers trying to further our understanding of the subject and find the mathematical pattern that underlies its complex motions. But understanding turbulence and representing it artistically may be two different things. This video discusses some neat research that found that some of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, like “The Starry Night”, display mathematical patterns like those of turbulence. (Video credit: TED Ed)

  • DFD Reminder

    Reminder: APS DFD is starting today. Follow along on Twitter at @fyfluiddynamics and . Later today at 12:30 PT you can follow our science communication workshop and ask questions at #DFDSciComm.

  • APS DFD 2014

    APS DFD 2014

    It’s that time of year again! Sunday marks the start of the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. I’ll be in San Francisco for the full conference. On Sunday at 15:30 ET/12:30 PT I’ll be co-teaching a workshop on science communication alongside Flora Lichtman, David Hu, Rachel Levy, and Jason Bardi. We’ll be live-tweeting the event with the hashtag #DFDSciComm, and you are welcome to join in with comments and questions, even if you’re not attending the workshop in person. We’ll do our best to answer.

    For those coming to the conference, keep an eye out and come say hello. I’ve got special FYFD stickers for those who do. 

    I expect to do some photos and short updates from the conference here, but for up-to-the-minute info on what I’m up to, your best bet is to follow the FYFD Twitter account. See you in California! (Image credits: N. Sharp/FYFD)

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