What happens to a droplet hanging on a wire when the wire gets plucked? That’s the fundamental question behind this video, which shows the effects of wire speed, viscosity, and Keep reading
Tag: viscous flow
Bigger Particles Slide Farther
Mudslides and avalanches typically carry debris of many shapes and sizes. To understand how debris size affects flows like these, researchers use simplified, laboratory-scale experiments like this one. Here, researchers Keep reading
Martian Mud Volcanoes
Mars features mounds that resemble our terrestrial mud volcanoes, suggesting that a similar form of mudflow occurs on Mars. But Mars’ thin atmosphere and frigid temperatures mean that water — Keep reading
Reclaiming the Land
Lava floods human-made infrastructure on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula in this aerial image from photographer Ael Kermarec. Protecting roads and buildings from lava flows is a formidable challenge, but it’s one Keep reading
Swimming With Cilia
Like most microswimmers, these Synura uvella algae use cilia to swim. Cilia are tiny, hair-like appendages that flap to produce thrust. Even under a microscope, the cilia are hard to Keep reading
“Emitter”
For this latest experimental film, artist Roman De Giuli provides a glimpse of the unique fluid art machine he’s built over the last 3.5 years. With 10 channels driven by Keep reading
Sensing Sound Like Spiderwebs
Most microphones — like our ears — work by sensing the tiny pressure changes caused by a sound wave‘s passing. But for microphones built this way, the smaller they get, Keep reading
“Alive”
In “Alive,” filmmaker Christopher Dormoy explores acrylic paints and the variety of ways in which the medium can be used. From a fluids perspective, there’s dripping, viscous flow, turbulent eddies, Keep reading
Granular Gaps
Push air into a gap filled with a viscous fluid, and you’ll get the branching, dendritic pattern of a Saffman-Taylor instability. Here, researchers use a similar set-up: injection into a Keep reading
Honeybee Feeding
Busy bees feed on millions of flowers for each kilogram of honey they produce. To gather nectar, bees use their hairy tongues, which project out of a sheath-like cover. Protraction Keep reading