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
Tag: viscous flow
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
Avoiding Shear Thickening
Many substances – like the cornstarch and water mixture above – exhibit a property called shear-thickening. In these fluids, deforming them quickly causes the viscosity to increase dramatically. That shear-thickening occurs when particles Keep reading
Escaping the Limits of Viscosity
For large creatures, it’s not hard to feel the evidence of someone else swimming nearby. But to tiny swimmers water is incredibly viscous and hard to move. These creatures have Keep reading
“Unity”
Rus Khasanov’s latest short film, “Unity,” is all about coming together with droplets coalescing, globules bursting, and colors mixing. Take a glittery, paint-filled break and enjoy some macro-filmed fluid dynamics Keep reading
Fingers of Clay
Take a mixture of a viscous liquid – like clay mud – and squeeze it between two glass plates and you’ll create a mostly-round layer of liquid. As you pry Keep reading
Floccing Particles
Adding particles to a viscous fluid can create unexpected complications, thanks to the interplay of fluid and solid interactions. Here we see a dilute mixture of dark spherical particles suspended Keep reading
The Art of Paper Marbling
Known as ebru in Turkey and suminagashi in Japan, the art of paper marbling has flourished in cultures around the world since medieval times. The details of methods vary, but Keep reading
Liquid Antispiral
Spiral formations are common in nature, from galaxies to chemical reactions. But most examples in nature rotate such that their arms trail the direction of rotation. Viewed side-on, this makes Keep reading