Mushrooms don’t rely on a stray breeze to spread their spores; they generate their own air currents instead. The key is evaporation. The mushroom cap contains large amounts of water, Keep reading
Tag: nature
Supercavitating Penguins
[original media no longer available] Penguins, already fluid dynamicists by nature, have developed clever methods of increasing their speed to escape from the leopard seals that prey on them. In Keep reading
Water-Walking Basilisks
Some animals, like the common basilisk (a.k.a. the Jesus Christ lizard) are capable of running across water for short distances. The basilisk accomplishes this feat by slapping the water with Keep reading
Venom Properties
Most venomous snakes deliver venom to their prey via grooves in their fangs, rather than through a pressurized bolus through hollow fangs. New research shows that these venoms are shear-thinning Keep reading
The Pistol Shrimp’s Secret Weapon
The pistol shrimp (or pistol crab) is a finger-sized crustacean with a fluid dynamical superpower. When it snaps its claw, a jet of water shoots out so quickly (62 mph) Keep reading
Ants as a Fluid
The collective behavior of ants can mirror the flow of a viscous fluid. It would be interesting to see if any such parallels carry over to the flocking of birds Keep reading
Pterosaur Aerodynamics
The pterosaur was an enormous prehistoric reptile that flew with wings of living membrane stretched over a single long bone, unlike any of today’s flying creatures. New research using carbon Keep reading
Flying Snake Video
A follow-up on the flying snakes. This video shows researchers filming the actual snakes gliding and performing maneuvers. See also the Scientific American article on their work. #
Flying Snakes Draft off Themselves
Some snakes in Southeast and South Asia are known to glide some 100 m between trees. Researchers filmed snakes, constructed computational models of their flights, and tested plastic models in Keep reading