In the confines of a narrow tube, a flow’s energy gets dissipated in two places: inside the bulk fluid and along the contact line. The former is standard for all Keep reading
Tag: viscous flow
Mud Pots
Mud pots, or mud volcanoes, form when volcanic gases escape underlying magma and rise through water and earth to form bubbling mud pits. I had the chance to watch some Keep reading
Tiny Symmetric Swimmers
Microswimmers live in a world dominated by viscosity, and in viscous fluids, symmetric motion provides no propulsion. That’s why bacteria and other tiny organisms use cilia, corkscrew flagella, and other Keep reading
When Honey Flows Faster Than Water
With its high viscosity, no one would ever pick honey to beat water in a race. But a new study shows there’s at least one circumstance where honey wins: inside Keep reading
“Chocolate Lullaby”
In this music video for the song “Chocolate Lullaby,” the Macro Room team feature all kinds of fluid dynamical phenomena. It begins with pouring viscous fluids, which, like honey or Keep reading
Lava Barriers
Inspired by protecting people and property from lava flows, researchers investigated how viscous fluids flow downhill past large obstacles. As seen above, when the obstacle is tall enough that the Keep reading
Seeping Sculptures
Drips, blobs, and squishes – that’s how artist Dan Lam describes her recent series of sculptures. The pieces are a mix of polyurethane foam, resin, and acrylic, decorated in bold Keep reading
The Microscopic Ocean
When you’re the size of plankton, water may as well be molasses. Viscosity rules at these scales, and swimming plankton leave distinctive wakes that are slow to dissipate. Fish that feed on plankton use Keep reading
Pollock Avoided Coiling
Artists are often empirical masters of fluid dynamics, as they must be to achieve the effects they want. Jackson Pollock was particularly known for his so-called dripping technique, in which he dropped Keep reading
Reader Question: Exoplanetary Life
Reader orbiculator asks: I’ve been having this thought regarding biological adaptations to viscous mediums. In a hypothetical exoplanet where the ocean is this thick, aqueous gel – could we assume that Keep reading