Most shapes aren’t streamlined for fluid flow. We call these bulky, often boxy shapes, bluff bodies. Above, we see two examples of a bluff body, a flat plate, in a Keep reading
Tag: vortices
Ghostly Chandeliers
Under a black light, highlighter fluid creates ghostly trails as it drips through water. The vortices that form and break into this chandelier-like shape are the result of density differences between the Keep reading
Tornadoes of the Sea
This dramatic image shows a waterspout formed off the coast of Florida. Waterspouts come in two varieties: tornadic and fair-weather. Both types can be dangerous to anyone caught up in Keep reading
Jovian Vortices
Jupiter continues to mesmerize in the images from JunoCam. With enhanced contrast, the planet’s eddies look like swirls you could just lean forward and fall into. The complexity of the Jovian atmosphere’s mixing is Keep reading
Trails from a Delta Wing
Rhodamine (red) and fluorescein (green) dyes highlight the complex flows around a delta wing. To visualize the flow, researchers painted the apex of the delta wing with rhodamine, which gets drawn into Keep reading
Reader Question: Inside a Vortex
Reader embersofkymillo asks: Hey FYFD, could you do some analysis/explanations behind the physics of this vortex stuff? I love when you do spots on Slow Mo Guys vids and figured Keep reading
The Polar Vortex
Every year or two, the Northern Hemisphere gets treated to a bout of intensely cold temperatures thanks to the polar vortex. What you may not realize, though, is that it’s Keep reading
Vortices and Ground Effect
Though typically unseen, the vortices that swirl from the tips of aircraft wings are powerful. Here you see a Hawker Sea Fury equipped with a smoke system used to visualize Keep reading
Making a Square Vortex
As someone who has played with her share of vortex cannons, I can assure you that messing around with smoke generators and vortex rings is a lot of fun. And in Keep reading
Inside Hurricane Maria
In addition to looking outward, NASA constantly monitors our own planet using a suite of satellites. In this video, they visualize data taken by the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory Keep reading