Though fluid dynamicists have long theorized about the hydrodynamic benefits of fish swimming in schools, nailing down the actual physics has been quite difficult. Fish rarely swim exactly as an Keep reading
Tag: schooling
Collective Catfish Convection
Gather many birds, fish, or humans together and you often get collective motion that’s remarkably fluid-like in appearance. This video shows a group of juvenile striped eel catfish, an (eventually) Keep reading
Collective Motion: Intro
Herds, flocks, schools, and even crowds can behave in fluid-like ways. On Science Friday, Stanford professor Nicholas Ouellette explains some of the physics behind these similarities. Fluids are, after all, Keep reading
Building Smart Swimmers
Scientists have long wondered whether the schooling of fish is driven by hydrodynamic benefits, but the complexity of their environment makes unraveling this complex motion difficult. A recent study uses Keep reading
Schooling Together
Since the 1970s, fluid dynamicists have chased the idea that fish swim in schools for hydrodynamic advantage. The original 2D conception of the idea placed fish in a diamond pattern Keep reading
Sheep as a Fluid
Not all fluids are, well, fluid. Traffic, flocks of birds, ants, and even sheep can behave like fluids. This video shows an aerial perspective on sheep being herded, and despite Keep reading
Advantages of Schooling
Many fish swim in close proximity to one another in large schools, causing scientists to wonder if this behavior is motivated primarily by defense against predators or whether fish derive 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