Not all microfluidic devices use tiny channels to pump and mix fluids. Some, like the Vortex Fluidic Device (VFD), conduct their microfluidic mixing in thin films of fluid. The VFD Keep reading
Tag: Ig Nobel Prize
Unboiling an Egg
Cooking is something we think of as a one-way process. You add heat to food, it changes forms, and there’s undoing that. But that process is less one-directional than we Keep reading
Are Cats a Fluid?
Are cats a fluid? It’s a question that has inspired many a meme. There are a few common definitions as to what makes a fluid. One is that a fluid Keep reading
The Law of Urination
Tonight is the 26th Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. As I’ve covered previously, the subject of fluid dynamics has been quite successful at winning these awards designed to “make people LAUGH, then Keep reading
Reader Question: Shower Curtains
Reader thansy asks: Why do the bottoms of shower curtains drift in toward the water coming from the shower head? We all know that moment. You’re minding your own business, Keep reading
Other Ig Nobel Fluids
To round out our series on fluid dynamics in the Ig Nobel Prizes (which are not the same thing as the actual Nobel Prizes), here are some of the other winners. Last Keep reading
Ig Nobel Fluids: Shower Curtain Science
Nearly everyone has faced the frustration of a shower curtain billowing inwards to stick to one’s leg. Various explanations have been offered to explain the effect, but David Schmidt won Keep reading
Ig Nobel Fluids: Swimming in Syrup
Does a person swim faster in water or syrup? One expects the more viscous syrup would offer a swimmer greater resistance, but, at the same time, it could also provide Keep reading
Ig Nobel Fluids: Cookie Dunking
Back in 1999 Len Fisher earned an Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for explaining the physics of dunking a biscuit or cookie in a liquid. The cookie is porous, with Keep reading
Ig Nobel Fluids: Running on Water
While insects are small enough to use surface tension to stay atop water, larger species like the basilisk lizard run on water by slapping their feet against the surface hard Keep reading