Hard materials don’t always work well in robotics. Here, researchers build soft actuators that can bend, curl, and tighten in order to manipulate objects. They begin by injecting liquid elastomer Keep reading
Tag: buoyancy
Eruption in a Box
In layers of viscous fluids, lighter and less viscous fluids can displace heavier, more viscous liquids. Here, researchers demonstrate this using four fluids sandwiched between layers of glass and mounted Keep reading
When Bubbles Don’t Die
In a pure liquid, most bubbles pop almost immediately. But with a simple ingredient — a little heat — bubbles can live almost indefinitely. The mechanism is revealed in this Keep reading
Mushy Layers
In many geophysical and metallurgical processes, there is a stage with a porous layer of liquid-infused solid known as a mushy layer. Such layers form in sea ice, in cooling Keep reading
The Shapes of Melting Ice
Water is an odd substance because it is densest at 4 degrees Celsius, well above its melting point at 0 degrees Celsius. This density anomaly means that melting ice takes Keep reading
Backflipping Bubbles
Rising bubbles can backflip when they impact a tilted surface. As shown in this video, small bubbles will bounce off a titled surface, with each hop leading the bubble further Keep reading
Antarctic Meltwaters
Cerulean blue meltwater glints in this satellite image of the George VI Ice Shelf. Wedged between the Antarctic Peninsula on the right and Alexander Island on the left, the ice Keep reading
Turbulent Puffs
When a burst of air gets expelled into still surroundings — like when a person coughs — it forms a turbulent puff like the one seen here. Puffs can be Keep reading
Fun From the Beach
Here’s a neat bit of fluid dynamics derived from a day at the beach! Our experiment begins with well-mixed (and likely compacted) sand grains and sea water in a bottle. Keep reading
Bubbles Rising
Here we see high-speed video of air bubbles rising through sesame oil. The flow rate of air is just right for one bubble to catch up to and merge with Keep reading