After visiting an aquarium or snorkeling near a reef, you may have wondered why fish come in so many different shapes. Given that all fish species need to get around Keep reading
Tag: hydrodynamics
Riding Across Water
Humans may not be fast enough to run across water, but we’ve found other ways to conquer the waves. It’s even possible (though definitely not recommended) to ride across stretches Keep reading
Pelican Diving
Pelicans, like many sea birds, are aerial divers. They spot their prey from high above, bank, and dive into the water to catch the fish. Although they hit the water Keep reading
Galapagos Week: Diving Birds
One of my favorite things to do while we were sailing along the Galapagos was watching the blue-footed boobies hunt. Like the gannets shown above, boobies are plunge divers. They Keep reading
The Hydraulics Behind a Tuna’s Turns
Tuna are remarkably agile for their size. Many species reach lengths exceeding the height of a human adult, yet they can still make tight turns, especially when hunting. A recent Keep reading
Living Fluid Dynamics
This short film for the 2016 Gallery of Fluid Motion features Montana State University students experiencing fluid dynamics in the classroom and in their daily lives. As in her previous Keep reading
Sharks Swimming Sideways
Like many sharks, the great hammerhead shark is negatively buoyant, meaning that, absent other forces, it would sink in water. To compensate, sharks generate lift with their pectoral (side) fins Keep reading
Denticles and Sharkskin
Look closely enough at a shark’s skin, and you will find it is covered in tiny, anvil-shaped denticles (lower left). To try and discover how and why these denticles help Keep reading
Reader Question: Submarines
Reader elimik asks: Why do modern submarines have round bows instead of pointy ones, like the early WWII ones? Interestingly, there are more factors that affect this design choice than Keep reading
Supernova Simulation
New research shows that supermassive first-generation stars may explode in supernovae without leaving behind remnants like black holes. The work is a result of modeling the life and death of Keep reading