One of the peculiar characteristics of viscous, laminar flows is that they are reversible. Squirt dye into glycerin, stir it one way, then the opposite direction, and the dye returns Keep reading
Tag: chaos
Resonating on a Bounce
When we think of resonance, we often think of it in simple terms: hit the one right note, and the wine glass will shatter. But resonance isn’t always about a Keep reading
The Coexistence of Order and Chaos
One of the great challenges in fluid dynamics is understanding how order gives way to chaos. Initially smooth and laminar flows often become disordered and turbulent. This video explores that Keep reading
The Lava Lamps That Secure the Internet
A wall of lava lamps in a San Francisco office currently helps keep about 10% of the Internet’s traffic secure. Internet security company Cloudflare uses a video feed of the Keep reading
When Chaos is Not So Chaotic
In industry, tanks are often agitated or stirred to mix different elements. The goal is to create a laminar but chaotic flow field throughout the mixture. Introducing particles to such Keep reading
Blowing Through a Straw
As kids, most of us got in trouble at some point for blowing through a straw into our nearly-empty drinks. What you see here is a consequence of such misbehavior, Keep reading
Printing in Glass
A group at MIT have created a new 3D printer that builds with molten glass. This allows them to manufacture items that would difficult, if not impossible, to create with Keep reading
Shaping and Levitating Droplets
Opposing ultrasonic speakers can be used to trap and levitate droplets against gravity using acoustic pressure. Changes to field strength can do things like bring separate objects together or flatten droplets. Keep reading
The Fluid Dynamical Sewing Machine
Originally posted: 3 Jan 2012 Nonlinearity and chaos are important topics for many aspects of fluid dynamics but can be difficult to wrap one’s head around. But this video provides an awesome, Keep reading
Liquid Mushrooms
The Rayleigh-Taylor instability can form at the interface between two liquids of different density under the influence of gravity, but a similar instability can occur in the absence of gravity. Keep reading