Reader Matt G asks: [What’s] going on here? Why’s the pattern square? Just a special case of waves traveling in different directions, and this photo happened to catch some at Keep reading
Tag: waves
Diamond-Shaped Waves
Strong winds blowing across Lake Michigan created this diamond-shaped wave pattern after the incoming waves reflected off the breakwater on the right. The formal name for these waves are clapotis gaufré, Keep reading
Reader Question: Waves Breaking
As a follow-up to the recent waves post, reader robotslenderman asks: What does it look like when the wave breaks? And why do waves sometimes push us back? Why are we able to Keep reading
How Waves Travel
When playing in the surf, it’s easy to imagine that the incoming waves are a wall of water crashing into the shore. And, in a way they are, but probably Keep reading
Doing the Wave
Not everything that behaves like a fluid is a liquid or a gas. In particular, groups of organisms can behave in a collective manner that is remarkably flow-like. From schools of Keep reading
Transporting Droplets
Transporting droplets easily and reliably is important in many microfluidic applications. While this can be done using electric fields, those fields can impact biological characteristics researchers are trying to measure. As an Keep reading
Prehistoric Seiche
Sixty-six million years ago, a meteorite impact in modern-day Mexico wiped out the dinosaurs and most other living species of the time. To call the event catastrophic feels like an Keep reading
Rogue Waves
After centuries of tales from sailors, in 1995 the Draupner off-shore platform recorded the first ever evidence of a freak wave – a single, wall-like wave steeper and taller than Keep reading
Amber Waves
When I was a teenager, I liked riding my bike along the river boardwalk near my house. There were fields there, like those in the image above and video below, Keep reading
Collective Motion: Waving Bees
Giant honeybees live in huge open nests. To protect themselves, they’ve developed a mesmerizing wave-like defense known as shimmering. When shimmering, the bees in a hive, beginning from a distinct Keep reading