Whether you’ve been here for 1 post or for all 1500, thank you! And special thanks, of course, to my Patreon patrons. If you’re a fan and want to help FYFD keep flowing and growing, please consider becoming a patron, too. (There’s cool perks available.) Here’s to the next 1500 posts!
Reminder:I’ll be doing a special webcast with Professor Tadd Truscott and PhD student Randy Hurd of The Splash Labtomorrow Saturday, March 5th at 1pm EST! We’ll be talking about skipping elastic balls, people running on water, urine black holes, and much more. I will be posting the livestream link on Patreon tomorrow afternoon. If you want to tune in, you should sign up as an FYFD patron!
For the next week, FYFD is going to be exploring the physics of walking on water. Birds, bugs, and balls can all do it – we’ll look at how! To top off the week, I’ll be holding my first-ever FYFD live webcast on Saturday, March 5th at 1 pm EST (10 am PST; 6 pm GMT). My guests are Professor Tadd Truscott and PhD student Randy Hurd of the Splash Lab! Tadd, Randy, and their Splash Lab compatriots have been responsible for someofmyfavoriteFYFDtopicsoverthepastfiveyears and I’m super excited to have them on the webcast.
Normally, my webcasts will be reserved for FYFD’s $5+ Patreon patrons, but since this is a special occasion, we’re going to make the Hangout on Air link live to any FYFD patron on Patreon. Not a patron yet? What are you waiting for? Go sign up! You don’t want to miss this.
As a bonus, here’s Randy demonstrating his research:
tl;dr version: FYFD is launching a Patreon campaign. If you enjoy FYFD and want to help support its continued growth, please become a patron today!
And the longer version: At the start of the year, I hinted that there were big things ahead for FYFD. Today’s announcement is part of that. In the past five years, FYFD has grown beyond my wildest dreams. I’m so excited, grateful, and happy to share my love for science with all of you. As FYFD’s audience has grown, so have my plans and dreams for expanding the site and what it does. I want to bring you more: videos that take you behind-the-scenes to see the scientific process firsthand, interviews that let you meet the people behind the work, and articles that explore new and exciting fluid phenomena.
All of the research, filming, writing, and editing necessary to bring those dreams to life takes time and money. I can provide the first: from now on, I’ll be dedicating my full-time attention to FYFD. But I need your help and support to make this possible. That’s why I’m launching a campaign on Patreon. If you enjoy FYFD and want to help it continue and grow, please consider becoming a patron. Your monthly support will enable me to dedicate my full energy to FYFD and will provide funding for materials, equipment, and travel so that I can bring the science back to you.
There are also some pretty cool rewards available to patrons! All patrons will have access to a patrons-only activity feed where I post behind-the-scenes content and extras like video outtakes. It’s also a place where I’ll look for feedback on new ideas. Think of it as an extra dose of FYFD. Other rewards include getting your name added to the FYFD supporter page, getting a handwritten postcard from me, and access to a monthly webcast where I’ll chat with guest scientists and patrons. (I’m really excited about that last one!)
Whether you become a patron or not, I want to thank you for your support. None of those would be possible without you and your enthusiasm. As always, the best thing you can do to support FYFD is to tell others how much you like it.Thank you!
If you have any questions, I’ll be online all day. You can reach me via Tumblr, Twitter, or email.
This is the last week that my IndieGoGo project is open for donations. All money above and beyond what is needed for the conference will go toward FYFD-produced videos. Also, donors can get some awesomeFYFD stickers.
As a reminder, those looking for more fluids–in video, textbook, or other form–can always check out my resources page. And if you know about great links that aren’t on there, let me know so that I can add them. On to the round-up!
I have the best readers in the world. Seriously, everyone one of you is amazing. In less than 23 hours, you have blown past the goal I set. I will be going to the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting thanks to you. THANK YOU!
For those of you reading who will be at APS, I plan to do my utmost to be available to grab a coffee between sessions, hang out, discuss research, talk outreach, go out to dinner – whatever! For those of you who won’t be there, I want to share as much of the experience as possible with you through social media. Prepare to be inundated at the end of the November. Without all of you, I wouldn’t be at APS, and I’d like everyone who contributed to have a chance to enjoy the experience.
Per IndieGoGo’s terms, the campaign will remain open until its October 11th deadline. Any contributions I receive above and beyond my APS costs, I plan to set aside for improvements to FYFD. The reader survey indicated lots of you would like me to make my own videos, and I aim to. Extra funds will first go toward equipment for that purpose.
Thank you again to each and every one of you, whether you contributed your money or helped spread the word. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and will continue striving to bring the best of fluid dynamics to FYFD every weekday. Thank you all!
Readers, I need your help! Funding for my project got cancelled prematurely thanks to sequester-induced budget cuts and my research group no longer has the funds to send me to the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting where I am scheduled to give two talks, one about FYFD and one about my research. APS’s DFD meeting is the big fluid dynamics conference of year, where thousands of researchers, professionals, and students come together to present their work. It’s always a major source of beautiful, interesting, and exciting photos and videos for FYFD. I’m asking you to help me raise the $2000 I need to attend. Watch the video, check out the perks available for donors over at IndieGoGo, and please help me spread the word by reblogging, retweeting, etc. Thank you!
