Assembling structures from small components is often difficult. Techniques like optical tweezers are limited to very small objects, and magnetic techniques only work with certain materials. Here, researchers use acoustical Keep reading
Tag: acoustics
Perturbations
At first glance, today’s video appears to have little to do with fluid dynamics since it’s a demonstration of interactions between magnets. But for those who’ve delved into the mathematics Keep reading
Listening to the Sizzle
The sizzle of frying food is familiar to many a cook, and that sound actually conveys a surprising amount of information. In this study, researchers suspended water droplets in hot Keep reading
Sonic Booms and Urban Canyons
In the days of the Concorde — thus far the world’s only supersonic passenger jet — noise complaints from residents kept the aircraft from faster-than-sound travel except over the open Keep reading
Whistle Physics
Ever wondered how whistles work? Depending on the type of whistle, there are a few different phenomena in play, but the most fundamental one is the oscillation of a fast-moving Keep reading
Listening to Tempura
Most cooks know that their frying oil isn’t hot enough if dropping the food in doesn’t create a furious burst of bubbles. But the canniest cooks know they can check Keep reading
Sounds of Champagne
Lean in to a glass of champagne and you’ll hear a soft chorus of sound as the bubbles pop. Recently, researchers determined the specific mechanism in the process that’s responsible Keep reading
The Hot Chocolate Effect
Stir hot chocolate powder into milk or water, and you can recreate this bizarre acoustic phenomenon. Once the powder is mixed in, tapping the side of the cup creates a Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2021
A year ago I observed what a strange year 2020 had been, and in many ways, I could say the same of 2021. Before the pandemic, I spent quite a Keep reading
The Acoustics of Stonehenge
Stonehenge has long been an astronomical wonder, but did you know it’s an aural wonder as well? A team of acoustic engineers and an archaeologist constructed and tested a 1:12 Keep reading