Flying snakes undulate through the air as they glide. But, unlike on land, these wiggles aren’t for propulsion. A new study shows instead that they are key to the snake Keep reading
Tag: numerical simulation
Shedding Light on Martian Dust Storms
In 2018, Mars was enveloped by a global dust storm that lasted for months. Although such storms had been seen before, the 2018 storm offered an unprecedented opportunity for observation Keep reading
When Shear Meets Slip
One of the classic concepts students learn early in their fluids education is the no-slip condition. In essence, this idea says that friction between a solid object — say, a Keep reading
Unifying Sediment Transport Theory
On windy days, streaks of snowflakes snake in the air above a mountaintop snowfield. And when snorkeling in the surf, you can watch the inbound waves sculpt underwater ripples in Keep reading
COVID-19 and Outdoor Exercise
By now you’ve probably come across some blog posts and news articles about a new pre-print study looking at the aerodynamics of running and the potential exposure to exhaled droplets. Keep reading
Using Electric Fields to Avoid Dripping
Anyone who’s painted a room at home is familiar with the frustration of drips. At certain inclinations, practically every viscous liquid develops these gravity-driven instabilities. They’re troublesome in manufacturing as Keep reading
Inferring Flows with Neural Networks
Fluid dynamicists have long used flow visualization methods to get a qualitative sense for flows, but it’s rare to derive much quantitative data from this imagery. But that may soon Keep reading
Kneading Dough
Kneading bread dough is something of an art. The process binds flour, water, salt, and yeast into a network that is both elastic and viscous. It also traps pockets of Keep reading
Adapting to the Flow
Simulating fluid dynamics computationally is no simple task. One of the major challenges is that flows typically consist of many different lengthscales, from the very large to the extremely tiny. In theory, Keep reading
Creating Biofuel
One production technique for biofuel converts agricultural waste through pyrolysis. These systems heat biomass particles in a mixture of sand and nitrogen gas until the biomass particles release tar and syngas, a Keep reading