Bright colors mark this slowly draining soap film. The film sits slightly off-horizontal, so flow shifts over time from the top of the frame to the bottom. The fluid is Keep reading
Tag: thin film
Box Closing Physics
My fellow board game aficionados (and anyone else who regularly opens and closes lidded boxes) have probably noticed the way a lid drops slowly onto its box once aligned. The Keep reading
Within the Bubble’s Pop
To our eyes, a soap bubble appears to pop instantly, but when observed in high-speed video, the process is far more complex. In this video, the Slow Mo Guys pop Keep reading
“Oil Paintings”
To capture his images of auroras, nebulas, and comets, photographer Juha Tanhua points his camera lens downward, not upward. Despite their astrophysical appearance, Tanhua’s “oil paintings” are actually parking lot Keep reading
The Colors of a Thin Film
Soap bubbles and other thin films are colorful thanks to wave interference across their tiny thickness, but you may have noticed that only some colors appear. Others, like red, seem Keep reading
Using Bubbles to Keep Clean
Keeping produce clean of foodborne pathogens is a serious issue, and delicate fruits and vegetables like tomatoes cannot withstand intense procedures like cavitation-based cleaning. But a new study suggests that Keep reading
Soap Film Evolution
The beautiful colors of a soap film reflect its variations in thickness. As a film drains and evaporates, it turns to shades of gray and black as it gets thinner. Keep reading
The Challenges of Blowing Bubbles
Although every child has experience blowing soap bubbles with a wand, only in recent years have scientists dedicated study to this problem. It turns out to be a remarkably complex Keep reading
Soap Film Filter
Inspired by the self-healing properties of soap films, scientists have created a liquid filter capable of trapping small particles while allowing larger ones to pass through. Instead of filtering particles Keep reading
Songs in Soap
There are many beautiful ways to visualize sound and music – Chris Stanford’s fantastic “Cymatics” music video comes to mind – but this is one I haven’t seen. This visualization Keep reading