FYFD
Celebrating the physics of all that flows. Ask a question, submit a post idea or send an email. You can also follow FYFD on Twitter and YouTube. FYFD is written by Nicole Sharp, PhD.
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Posts tagged "flow visualization"
At the ends of an airplane’s wings, the pressure difference between air on top of the wing and air below it creates a swirling vortex that extends behind the aircraft. In this video, researchers recreate this wingtip vortex in a wind tunnel, visualized with laser-illuminated smoke. (Video and image credit: M. Couliou et al.)
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In nature, some powerful tornadoes form additional tornadoes within their shear layer. These subvortices revolve around the main tornado, causing massive destruction in their wake. (Image and research credit: G. Di Labbio et al. 1, 2)
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After eight years and six flight tests, NASA said a fiery farewell to the Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment, or Saffire, mission. Each Saffire test took place on an uncrewed Cygnus supply vehicle after undocking from the space station. (Image and video credit: NASA; via Gizmodo and NASA Glenn)
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When a drop of ethanol lands on a pool of water, surface tension forces draw it into a fast-spreading film. Evenly-spaced plumes form at the edges of the film, then the film stops spreading and instead retracts. All of this takes place in about 0.6 seconds. (Image and research credit: A. Pant and B. Puthenveettil)
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Strands of green and brown mix in Langebaan Lagoon on the South African coast in this astronaut photograph. The shallow tidal estuary has a sandy floor and, since no river flows into it, the deeper green sections seen here are channels carved solely by the back-and-forth flow of the tides. (Image credit: NASA; via NASA Earth Observatory)
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Just as prairie dogs bark to warn the colony of danger, many plants can signal their neighbors when they’re under attack. This thale cress releases calcium when caterpillars eat it; neighboring plants pick up the chemical signal and pass it along. (Image and research credit: Y. Aratani et al.; via Colossal)
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