Some water-walking insects are able to leap off a watery interface. One way to model these creatures is with elastic hoops, which can also propel themselves off the water’s surface. Keep reading
Tag: science
Ejecting Water from a Smartwatch
Making electronics water-resistant can be a challenge, but as this Slow Mo Guys video demonstrates, engineers have some clever ways to deal with unwanted liquids. The Apple Watch, for example, Keep reading
Branching Sparks from Senko-hanabi
Senko-hanabi are a Japanese firework, somewhat similar to a sparkler. But instead of being driven by burning powder, the senko-hanabi’s sparks come from bursting liquid droplets undergoing an exothermic reaction Keep reading
Internal Waves in the Andaman Sea
Differences in temperature and salinity create distinct layers within the ocean. When combined with flow over submerged topography — underwater canyons, mountains, and reefs — it makes waves. But those Keep reading
The Vortex Beneath a Drop
While we’re most used to seeing levitating Leidenfrost droplets on a solid surface, such drops can also form above a liquid bath. In fact, the smoothness of the bath’s surface, Keep reading
Making Waves
The Seoul Aquarium is now home to an enormous crashing wave, courtesy of design company d’strict. Check out several different views of the anamorphic illusion in their video above. There’s Keep reading
How Animals Stay Dry in the Rain
Getting wet can be a problem for many animals. A wet insect could quickly become too heavy to fly, and a wet bird can struggle to stay warm. But these Keep reading
Traffic Flow and Phantom Jams
We’ve all experienced the frustration of traffic jams that seem to come from nowhere — standstills that occur with no accident, construction, or obstacle in sight. Traffic shares a lot Keep reading
New Details on the Sun’s Surface
As part of its shakedown, the new Inouye Solar Telescope has captured the surface of the sun in stunning new detail. Seen here are some of the sun’s turbulent convection Keep reading
Mimicking Supernovas
The Hubble archives are full of incredible swirls of cosmic gas and dust, many of which were born in supernovas. Predicting the forms these massive explosions will generate is extremely Keep reading