This planet-like balloon started out as two elastomer sheets, heat-sealed together into a spiraling tube. As the balloon was inflated, it changed from flat to a saddle-like shape. With more Keep reading
Tag: elasticity
Lasers and Soap Films
Soap films are a great system for visualizing fluid flows. Researchers use them to look at flags, fish schooling and drafting, and even wind turbines. In this work, researchers explore Keep reading
Bending in Bubbles
Inside a cavity with a square cross-section, bubbles form an array. The shapes of their edges are determined by surface tension and capillarity (lower half of center image). Adding an Keep reading
Leaping Hoops
Some water-walking insects are able to leap off a watery interface. One way to model these creatures is with elastic hoops, which can also propel themselves off the water’s surface. Keep reading
Capsule Impact and Bursting
Nature and industry are full of elastic membranes filled with a fluid, from red blood cells to water balloons. A new study looks at how these capsules deform — and Keep reading
Plant Week: Bunchberry Dogwood
The bunchberry dogwood, unlike its taller relatives, is a low-lying subshrub that spreads along the ground. But it sports some of the fastest action of any plant, requiring 10,000 frames Keep reading
Using Instabilities for Manufacturing
Manufacturing textured, flexible surfaces can be difficult, but researchers are exploring ways to use fluid dynamical instabilities to make the process easier. They begin with a pourable polymer mixture that Keep reading
Stopping a Bounce
One way to damp a bouncing ball is to partially fill it with a fluid (a) or granular material (b). For the fluid, the initial impact sloshes the liquid. That doesn’t change Keep reading
Elastic Bounces
A rigid ball accelerated by a moving surface can only ever move as fast as the surface propelling it. But that’s not true for squishy objects like a water droplet. Keep reading
Hair in the Flow
Humans are hairy on the inside. Not in the way that we are on the outside, but in the sense that many interior surfaces of our bodies are covered in Keep reading