For many animals, letting themselves air-dry is not an option. They would become hypothermic before their wet fur dried completely. This is why dogs and many other furry mammals shake Keep reading
Tag: surface tension
The Birth of a Liquor
A water droplet immersed in a mixture of anise oil and ethanol displays some pretty complicated dynamics. Its behavior is driven, in part, by the variable miscibility of the three Keep reading
“Dendrite Fractals”
In this short film from the Chemical Bouillon team, dark ink drops spread in dendritic fractal patterns after being deposited on an unknown transparent liquid. Although the patterns look similar Keep reading
Listening to a Bubble’s Pop
Sound is an important aspect of many flows, from the scream of a rocket engine to the hum of electrical wires vibrating in the wind. Critically, those sounds carry important Keep reading
Spin Cycle
Rotational motion is a great way to break up liquids, as anyone who’s watched a dog shake itself dry can attest. That same centrifugal force is what allows this rotary Keep reading
Hydrodynamics of Sheep
As we’ve discussed previously, not all fluid-like behavior occurs within a literal fluid. Many groups of organisms — humans included — behave like a fluid en masse. Herds of sheep Keep reading
To Beat Surface Tension, Tadpoles Make Bubbles
For tiny creatures, surface tension is a formidable barrier. Newborn tadpoles are much too small and weak to breach the air-water surface in order to breathe. Researchers found that, instead, Keep reading
Surface Jets in Coalescing Droplets
What goes on when droplets merge is tough to observe, even with a high-speed camera. There are many factors at play: any momentum in the droplets, surface tension, gravity, and Keep reading
Collapsing Inside a Soap Film
There’s a common demonstration of surface tension where a loop of string is placed in a soap film and then the film inside the loop is popped, making it suddenly Keep reading
A Dance of Hydrogen Bubbles
Hydrogen bubbles rise off zinc submerged in hydrocholoric acid in this short film from the Beauty of Science team. In high-speed video, the rise of the bubbles is stately and Keep reading