Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHI) are a favorite among fluid dynamicists. They resemble the curls of a breaking ocean wave — not a coincidence, since KHI create those ocean waves to begin Keep reading
Tag: Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
Frozen Ripples
Normally, freezing is a slow enough process that transient phenomena like ripples get smoothed out. But with the right conditions, even ripples can get frozen in time. This picture shows Keep reading
Kelvin-Helmholtz Flows Downhill
Gravity currents carry denser fluids into lighter ones, like cold air drifting under your door in winter or dense fogs flowing downhill in San Francisco. Here, researchers visualize the situation Keep reading
Microscale Kelvin-Helmholtz
When we think of cavitation in a flow, we often think of it occurring at a relatively large scale — on the propeller of a boat, for example. But cavitation Keep reading
Rotating Waves of Grains
Rotating drums are a popular way to explore granular dynamics. Here, researchers fill a cylinder (seen below) with heavy grains and a low-viscosity fluid, then rotate the mixture about a Keep reading
Quantum Instability
In our everyday lives, two fluids moving past one another often form a wave-like pattern thanks to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We see it in the curl of waves on the Keep reading
Superfluid Instabilities
Superfluids — like Bose-Einstein condensates — are bizarre compared to fluids from our everyday experience because they have no viscosity. Without viscosity, it’s no surprise that they behave in unusual Keep reading
Brace For Impact
What happens in the moment before an object hits the water? That’s the question at the heart of a new study exploring how water deforms before an object’s impact. The Keep reading
Jovian Auroras
Like Earth, Jupiter is home to polar auroras that light the sky as charged particles interact with the planet’s magnetosphere. A recent paper identifies interesting features in the aurora that Keep reading
Protecting From Storm Surge
The most dangerous and destructive part of a tropical cyclone isn’t the wind or rain; it’s the storm surge of water moving inland. This landward shift of ocean takes place Keep reading