Making a good paper airplane is tough. Drop a simple sheet of paper and it will tumble and flip its way to the floor instead of gliding. The folds of Keep reading
Tag: stability
Stabilizing Foams
Bubbles in a pure liquid don’t last long, but with added surfactants or multiple miscible liquids, bubbles can form long-lasting foams. In soapy foams, surfactants provide the surface tension gradients Keep reading
Adjusting for Gusts
In flight, birds must adjust quickly to wind gusts or risk crashing. Research shows that the structure of birds’ wings enables them to respond faster than their brains can. The Keep reading
Floating in Levitating Liquids
When it comes to stability, nature can be amazingly counter-intuitive, as in this case of flotation on the underside of a levitating liquid. First things first: how is this liquid Keep reading
The Magic* Cork
*Spoiler alert: it’s not magic. It’s science! Just what makes this dropped cork float beneath the surface? Just like a normal cork, it’s buoyancy! But this seemingly straightforward video is Keep reading
Undulating Keeps Flying Snakes Steady
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
Steering as a Boxfish
Coral reefs are full of odd-looking denizens, but one of the funniest-looking ones must be the boxfish. This family of fish lives up to its name; their bodies feature an Keep reading
Keeping Bubbles Around
Bubbles don’t stick around in pure water. Surfactants are needed to stabilize the thin liquid film for longer than the blink of an eye. But that’s not necessarily the case Keep reading
What Makes Turbulence So Hard
Turbulence – that pestersome, unpredictable, and chaotic state of flow – has been a thorn in the sides of mathematicians, physicists, and engineers for centuries. It is certainly one of Keep reading
Hydrofoils and Stability
Today’s fastest boats use hydrofoils to lift most of a boat’s hull out of the water. This greatly reduces the drag a boat experiences, but it can also make the Keep reading