Many animals can run on water. The tiniest creatures, like water striders, use surface tension to keep themselves atop the water. Larger creatures like the basilisk lizard or the grebe Keep reading
Tag: water-walking
Water Walking, Exploding Droplets, and Colliding Vortices
Every year I look forward to the APS DFD conference in November. It brings thousands of researchers together to share the latest in fluid dynamics. So much goes on in Keep reading
Webcast Teaser Reel
Saturday I topped off a week of water-walking physics by holding a webcast with Professor Tadd Truscott and PhD student Randy Hurd of The Splash Lab. We had an absolutely Keep reading
Humans Running on Water
How fast does a speedster like The Flash or Dash Parr from The Incredibles have to go to run on water? As we saw from other water-walkers like the basilisk lizard Keep reading
Jumping Off Water
Many insects and arachnids can walk on water by virtue of their hydrophobicity and small size. With their light weight and skinny legs, these invertebrates curve the air-water interface like Keep reading
Grebe Rushing Physics
As capable a water-runner as the common basilisk is, the western and Clark’s grebe is even more impressive. Not only do these birds weigh up to three times as much as Keep reading
Surface-Tension Supported Walkers
Nature’s smallest water-walkers use surface tension to keep themselves afloat. This includes hundreds of species of invertebrates like insects and spiders as well as the occasional extremely tiny vertebrate, like Keep reading
The Basilisk Lizard
One of the most famous water-walking creatures is the common basilisk lizard. These South American reptiles are far too large to be kept aloft by surface tension and other interfacial Keep reading
Walking on Water
For the next week, FYFD is going to be exploring the physics of walking on water. Birds, bugs, and balls can all do it – we’ll look at how! To Keep reading
Water-Walking Basilisks
Some animals, like the common basilisk (a.k.a. the Jesus Christ lizard) are capable of running across water for short distances. The basilisk accomplishes this feat by slapping the water with Keep reading