The same dynamic forces that make coastlines fascinating create perennial headaches for engineers trying to maintain coastlines against erosion. This Practical Engineering video discusses some of the challenges of coastal Keep reading
Tag: waves
“Waves”
The “Waves” installation by artist Daniel Palacios appears deceptively simple, just a rope mounted between two motors. But once the motors start spinning, it is anything but. The installation shifts Keep reading
Making Waves
The Seoul Aquarium is now home to an enormous crashing wave, courtesy of design company d’strict. Check out several different views of the anamorphic illusion in their video above. There’s Keep reading
Captured by Waves
Acoustic levitation and optical tweezers both use waves — of sound and light, respectively — to trap and control particles. Water waves also have the power to move and capture Keep reading
Testing Waves in High Gravity
Where waves crash and meet, turbulence is inevitable. But exactly how large waves interact — whether in the ocean, in plasma, or the atmosphere — is far from understood. A Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2019
2019 was an even busier year than last year! I spent nearly two whole months traveling for business, gave 13 invited talks and workshops, and produced three FYFD videos. I Keep reading
Reader Question: Cross Sea
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
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