When we walk, the ground’s resistance helps propel us. Similarly, flying or swimming near a surface is easier due to ground effect. Most of the time swimmers don’t get that Keep reading
Tag: vortex rings
Coalescing Drops
This year’s Nikon Small World in Motion competition was won by fluid dynamics! The first place video shows droplets on a superhydrophobic surface coalescing. The droplets are a mixture of Keep reading
Vortex Rings on V-Shaped Walls
Vortex ring impacts are eternally fascinating. Here, researchers explore what happens when a vortex ring encounters a V-shaped wall. Because the outer portions of the vortex ring hit the wall Keep reading
Mossy Vortex Rings
Many plants have evolved an ability to move remarkably quickly. Often, this capability is driven by water. Here we see the moss Sphagnum affine, which disperses its spores explosively. The process Keep reading
Vortex Collisions Leave Clues to Turbulence
Vortex ring collisions have long been admired for their beauty, but they’re now shedding light on the fundamental interactions that lead to turbulence. By dying just the cores of colliding Keep reading
Blowing Vortex Rings from Bubbles
When bubbles burst, we often pay attention to the retracting film and forming droplets, but what happens to the air that was inside? By placing a little smoke inside them, Keep reading
Blowing Smoke
It’s unusual – but not entirely unheard of – to see volcanoes blowing smoke rings during inactive periods. But given their unpredictability, scientists had not studied this phenomenon in much depth. In a Keep reading
Seeing the Song
We can’t always see the flows around us, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. Audobon Photography Award winner Kathrin Swaboda waited for a cold morning to catch this spectacular Keep reading
Dandelion Flight, Continued
Not long ago, we learned for the first time that dandelion seeds fly thanks to a stable separated vortex ring that sits behind their bristly pappus. Building on that work, Keep reading
How Rain Can Spread Pathogens
Rainfall can help spread pathogens from an infected plant to healthy ones. This transfer can happen both through droplets and by dry-dispersal of pathogen spores (top). When a raindrop hits Keep reading