Coughing and sneezing create violent air flows in and around our bodies. As that fast air rushes over mucus layers in our lungs, throat, and sinuses, the resulting flow breaks Keep reading
Tag: instability
Leidenfrost Collapse
When a droplet encounters a surface much hotter than its boiling point, it forms a thin layer of vapor that insulates the liquid from the surface. But this Leidenfrost effect Keep reading
Frozen Ripples
Normally, freezing is a slow enough process that transient phenomena like ripples get smoothed out. But with the right conditions, even ripples can get frozen in time. This picture shows Keep reading
“Aquakosmos”
Colorful chandeliers, passing spirits, sprouting mushrooms, and fountains of falling ink appear in Christopher Dormoy’s “Aquakosmos.” Driven by the slight density difference between ink and water, many of these elaborate Keep reading
“Space Iris”
Ruslan Khasanov’s “Space Iris” explores the similarities between nebulae and eyes. Made entirely with common fluids like paint, soap, and alcohol, the film shows off the gorgeous possibilities of surface-tension- Keep reading
Liquid Lens Rupture
A blob of sunflower oil floating on soapy water forms a disk known as a liquid lens. But add some dyed ethanol and things take a turn. The lens rapidly Keep reading
Bubble Trails – Straight or Wonky?
Watch the bubbles rising in a glass of champagne and you’ll see them form tiny straight lines, with each bubble following its predecessor. But in a carbonated soda, the bubbles Keep reading
Polymers and Fluid Sheets
Even adding a small amount of polymers to a fluid can drastically change its behavior. Often polymer-doped fluids act more like soft solids, able to hold their shape like your Keep reading
Polygonal Jumps
When you turn on your kitchen faucet, you may have noticed a big circle that forms on the bottom of the sink. This is a hydraulic jump, a region where Keep reading
Instabilities on Instabilities
The world of fluid instabilities is a rich one. Combine fluids with differing viscosities, densities, or flow speeds and they’ll often break down in picturesque and predictable manners. Here, researchers Keep reading