Some of the differences between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are obvious, like the number of players allowed — two versus six — and the courts — a smaller sand Keep reading
Tag: aerodynamics
Paris 2024: Bouncing and Spinning
Spin, or the lack thereof, plays a major role in many sports — including tennis, golf, football, baseball, volleyball, and table tennis — because it affects whether flow stays attached Keep reading
Wasps in Flight
Personally, I’ve had some bad encounters with wasps, but Dr. Adrian Smith of Ant Lab feels the insects receive short shrift. In this video, he shows many species in the Keep reading
“Mason Bee at Work”
Mason bees like this one build landmarks to help them navigate as they construct a shelter for their eggs. Even hauling materials, these bees can easily stay aloft. This is Keep reading
Optimizing Wind Farms Collectively
In a typical wind farm, each wind turbine aligns itself to the local wind direction. In an ideal world where every turbine was completely independent, this would maximize the power Keep reading
Seeing the Flow
Experimentalists often need a sense for the overall flow before they can decide where to measure in greater detail. For such situations, flow visualization techniques are a powerful tool since Keep reading
Measuring Drag
After a noticeable rise in the prevalence of home runs beginning in 2015, Major League Baseball commissioned a report that found the increase was caused by a small 3% reduction Keep reading
Beijing 2022: Ski Jumping
In ski jumping, aerodynamics are paramount. Each jump consists of four segments: the in-run, take-off, flight, and landing. Of these, aerodynamics dominates in the in-run — where jumpers streamline themselves Keep reading
RC Ground Effect Plane
The ekranoplan was a massive, Soviet-era aircraft that relied on ground effect to stay aloft. In this video, RC pilots test out their own homemade version of the craft, including Keep reading
Flying Out of the Water
Flying fish and diving birds often navigate the interface between water and air in their flight, but few studies have actually looked at the effects of this transition on lift. Keep reading