fuckyeahfluiddynamics

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

How Magnetic Fields Shape Core Flows

The Earth's inner core is a hot, solid iron-rich alloy surrounded by a cooler, liquid outer core. The convection and rotation in this outer core creates our magnetic fields, but those magnetic fields can, in turn, affect the liquid metal flowing inside the Earth.  (Image credit: C. Finley et al.; research credit: A. Pothérat et al.; via APS Physics) Read the full article

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The Taum Sauk Dam Failure and Its Legacy

Managing an electrical grid is all about balancing the electricity that plants can supply with the instantaneous demands of consumers. If there's more power available than people need, it needs to get stored somehow. And for decades, the best way to store that excess supply has been in hydroelectric reservoirs like at the Taum Sauk Dam. (Video and image credit: Practical Engineering) Read the full article

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Ember Bursts Spread Wildfires

In a wildfire, a burst of embers lofted upward can travel far, starting a new spot fire when they land. Although large ember bursts only happen occasionally, researchers found that these events -- with orders of magnitude more embers than usual -- play an outsized role in wildfire spread.  (Image credit: C. Cook; research credit: A. Peterson and T. Banerjee; via Physics World) Read the full article

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Convection in Blue

Convection cells like these are all around us -- in the clouds, on the Sun, and in our pans -- but we rarely get to watch them in action.  (Video and image credit: W. Zhu; via Nikon Small World in Motion) Read the full article

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Ice Without Gravity

Astronaut Don Pettit is back in space, and that means lots of awesome microgravity experiments. Here, he grew thin wafers of ice in microgravity in a -95 degree Celsius freezer.  (Image credit: D. Pettit/NASA; via Ars Technica; submitted by J. Shoer) Read the full article

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Seeking Mars' Past

Although Mars is quite dry and inhospitable today, our rovers continue to search for evidence of a past Mars that could have sustained life. A recent study suggests that, at least in Gale Crater, the opportunities for life to flourish may have been short-lived.  (Image credit: NASA; research credit: D. Burtt et al.; via Gizmodo) Read the full article

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Herding Sheep

Flocks of birds, schools of fish, and herds of sheep all resemble fluids at times, and physicists have been trying to recreate their collective motion for decades. Many of these models simplify the animals into particles that follow simple rules based on the direction and speed of their neighbors. (Image credit: E. Osmanoglu; via Physics World) Read the full article

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Non-Newtonian Raindrops

Fluids like air and water are called Newtonian because their viscosity does not vary with the force that's applied to them. But many common fluids -- almost everything in your fridge or bathroom drawer, for example -- are non-Newtonian, meaning that their viscosity changes depending on how they're deformed. (Image, video, and research credit: S. Arora and M. Driscoll) Read the full article

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Who Killed the Colorado River?

From its source high in the snowy Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River runs through two countries and five states on its way to the Gulf of California. Or at least it used to. The river hasn't met the sea in decades.  (Video and image credit: PBS Terra) Read the full article

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"Chemical Somnia"

Under a macro lens, even a petri dish worth of fluids comes vividly to life. Here, artist Scott Portingale explores crystallization, Marangoni effects, and other phenomena alongside a haunting soundtrack from musician Gorkem Sen. Enjoy! (Image and video credit: S. Portingale et al.) Read the full article

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Sea Ice Swirls

Fragments of sea ice tumble and swirl in this satellite image of Greenland's east coast. In spring, Arctic sea ice journeys down the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard. Along the way, large ice floes break -- and melt -- into smaller pieces.  (Image credit: W. Liang; via NASA Earth Observatory) Read the full article