A lucky encounter led the Perseverance rover to record the first-ever sound of a dust devil on Mars. The rover happened to have its microphone on (something that only happens Keep reading
Tag: acoustics
Recreating the Rings of Power Opening
Everyone loves a good title sequence, especially when they feature neat visuals. Many who watched “The Rings of Power” zeroed in immediately on their use of cymatics — visuals born Keep reading
Absorbing Sound with Moth Wings
Manmade soundproofing tends to be porous and bulky or very limited in the range of frequencies it can handle. In contrast, moths are natural absorbers of ultrasound, having evolved to Keep reading
Aligning by Bubble Array
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
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