Usually, microbial colonies are grown on a solid substrate, but what happens when they grow on a liquid surface? That’s the question explored in this Gallery of Fluid Motion video Keep reading
Tag: biology
Hammerhead Hydrodynamics
Hammerhead sharks have some of the most distinctive craniums in the ocean, which begs the question: how do they swim with that head? New computational fluid dynamics studies suggest that Keep reading
Rolling Off a Duck’s Back
Ducks and other water fowl need protection from the elements. Fortunately for them, the structure of their feathers cleverly helps them shed water. As seen in this video, feathers have Keep reading
Sensing Obstacles Through Flow
Mosquitoes, bats, and even eels use non-visual means to sense their environments. For mosquitoes, part of their obstacle avoidance comes from the exquisite sensitivity of their antennae, which are able Keep reading
Collecting Animal Tears
Like humans, most vertebrates rely on tear films to keep their eyes moist and protected from the environment. But compared to humans, some animals’ tears have superior staying power. The Keep reading
Freshwater Mussels
Freshwater bivalves like these California floater mussels are critical species for the health of our waters. And although we don’t think of mussels as being very mobile, they’re actually quite Keep reading
Recreating Infinity
In the ocean, tiny organisms can migrate hundreds of meters through the water column. Recreating and tracking those journeys in a lab is quite a challenge, but it’s one the Keep reading
A Primer on Blood Pressure
Some of the most important fluid dynamics goes on every moment inside our bodies. After only a few weeks of gestation, the human heart begins its lifelong task of pumping Keep reading
Bacterial Turbulence
Conventional fluid dynamical wisdom posits that any flows at the microscale should be laminar. Tiny swimmers like microorganisms live in a world dominated by viscosity, therefore, there can be no Keep reading
Why Aren’t Trees Taller?
Trees are incredible organisms, with some species capable of growing more than 100 meters in height. But how do trees get so big and why don’t they grow even taller? Keep reading