Every time I fill a glass at my refrigerator, I watch how the falling jet creates a cloud of bubbles. The bubbles form when the impacting water jet pulls air in with it, though, as this video shows, the exact origins can vary. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=23511

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability--typically marked by mushroom-shaped plumes--occurs when a dense fluid accelerates into a less dense one. But researchers have now demonstrated the effect at quantum scales, too. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25579

Fresh snow shines white on the southern end of Greenland in this satellite image, taken in late February 2025. Whorls of sea ice sit off the coast, where they trace out patterns that reflect the winds and ocean currents of the region. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=23624

It's difficult at times to fathom the scale and power of fluid dynamics beyond our day-to-day lives. Here, twists of the Sun's magnetic field propel a jet of plasma more than 500,000 kilometers out from its surface in an enormous solar prominence eruption. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25248

Photographer Ernie Button explores the stains left behind when various liquors evaporate. This one comes from a single malt scotch whisky by The Balvenie. The stain itself is made up of particles left behind when the alcohol and water in the whisky evaporate. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25500

When supercooled, water can remain a liquid even below its freezing point. As explained in this Minute Physics video, this happens because of a tug-of-war between effects in the water. #physics #science #supercooling fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24970

Taking a deep breath may actually help you breathe easier, according to a new study. When we inhale, air fills our alveoli--tiny balloon-like compartments within our lungs. To make alveoli easier to open, they're coated in a surfactant chemical produced by our lungs. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25444

Mushrooms have the challenging task of dispersing spores, typically from heights no more than a few centimeters above the ground. At that altitude, viscosity and friction with the ground mean that air barely moves, if it does at all. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25515

Winds from the north made for wild conditions at Nazaré in Portugal. Photographer Ben Thouard caught these crashing waves in the late afternoon, when the low sun angle illuminated the spray of the surf. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24942

To form planets, the dust and gas around a star has to start clumping up. While there are many theories as to how this could happen, it's a difficult process to observe. A recent study shows that a magnetorotational (MR) instability could do the job. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25337

A craftsperson loves craft. Writing is craft. The people who practice it are into the process. People using AI don't have the SOUL of a craftsperson. They want an end result to stick their name on, that's it.

At first glance, draining an ocean seems simple like a simple problem: just put a drain at the lowest point. But it's not quite that easy. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25151

Even small changes to a meniscus can change how much wave energy passes through it. A new study systemically tests how meniscus size and shape affects the transmission of incoming waves. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25331

We spend our lives dealing with fluids at a scale where the motion of individual molecules is beneath our notice. But once you are dealing with pipes that are small enough--below about 1 nanometer in diameter--fluids have to be considered molecule-by-molecule. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25349

If you're used to seeing penguins on land, their speed and grace in the water can surprise. Penguins are even capable of extra bursts of speed through supercavitation. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24924

Mathematicians recently built a “unified theory” of stalagmites, those dramatic spires that dot every subterranean landscape. 🧵

Onions are a well-known source of tears for many a cook. And while the chemical source of their power--onions release a chemical that reacts in our eyes to produce tears--has been known for years, no one has looked at the fluid dynamics in the process until now. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25438

For most of history, floating bridges have been temporary structures, often used by militaries crossing water, but over the course of the twentieth century, engineers learned to build more permanent floating bridges. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24831

As humanity pumps more carbon and heat into the atmosphere, the oceans--and particularly the Southern Ocean--have been absorbing both. A new study looks ahead at what the long-term consequences of that could be. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25431

Are you a scientist? Is your research cool? Do people not adequately appreciate how cool your research is? I'm looking for researchers to feature in Q&A-style interviews on my blog and would love to hear from (or about — embarrass your friends!) scientists interested in sharing their work. 🧪

Fluid dynamics often comes down to a competition between the different forces acting in a flow. Inertia, surface tension, viscosity, gravity, rotation -- flows can be affected by all of these and more. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25240

This doesn't *quite* capture my current stage, but it resonates nevertheless. It's a real trip figuring out how to manage an all-consuming project when absolutely nothing in your life allows you to sink yourself in one thing.

Frost forms hexagonal columns on a wooden rail in this microphotograph by Gregory B. Murray. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25392

Scientists have unveiled the sharpest images ever captured of a solar flare. Taken by the Inouye Solar Telescope, the image includes coronal loop strands as small as 48 kilometers wide and 21 kilometers thick--the smallest ones ever imaged. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25344

Off western Australian, hundreds of low-lying islands and coral reefs jut into the ocean as part of the Buccaneer Archipelago. Tides here have a range of nearly 12 meters, so water rips through the narrow channels as the tide ebbs and flows. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24861

To understand how changing sea ice affects climate, researchers need to tease out the mechanisms that affect sea ice over its lifetime. A new study does just that, showing that sea ice loses salt as it ages, in a process that makes it less porous. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25082

Although wind turbines can have any number of blades, most that we see have three. The reasons for that are many, as explained today's Minute Physics video. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25099

Photographer Daniele Borsari captured this gorgeous composite image of nebulas in black and white, emphasizing the motion underlying the gas and dust. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25163

In kirigami, careful cuts to a flat surface can morph it into a more complicated shape. Researchers have been exploring how to use this in combination with flow; now they've created a new form of parachute. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25243

There's a simultaneous thrill and dread when reading a paper's literature review doubles the number of articles in your Zotero folder. #bookwriting #scicomm

Today's video shows red blood cells flowing through a capillary network in a rat's skeletal muscle. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25195

Today is the kind of day where my reading jumps from how a flock of hungry sheep passes through a barn door to how manta rays filter their food without ever clogging. #bookwriting is wild, folks #scicomm

As the implications of climate change grow more dire, interest in geoengineering--trying to technologically counter or mitigate climate change--grows. #climatechange #fluiddynamics #geoengineering #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25318

The loud noises of construction are not just an issue for humans. Sound and pressure waves from underwater construction are a problem for water-dwellers, too. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25141

As children, most of us plant a seed or two and watch it sprout, but we never get a view quite like this one. #biology #fluiddynamics #physics #plants #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25192

Look beneath the waves on a beach or in a bay, and you'll find ripples in the sand. Passing waves shape these sandforms and can even build them to heights that require dredging to keep waterways passable to large ships. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25077

Ngangla Ringco sits atop the Tibetan Plateau, breaking up the barren landscape with eye-catching teal and blue. This saline lake sits at an altitude of 4,700 meters, fed by rainfall, Himalayan runoff, and melting glaciers and permafrost. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24366

When a strong earthquake causes liquefaction, sand can intrude upward, leaving behind a feature that resembles an upside-down icicle. Known as a sand dike, researchers suspected that these intrusions could help us date ancient earthquakes. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25261

In an earthquake, sand and soil particles get jostled together, forcing any water between them up toward the surface. The result is liquefaction. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25253

A colorful assortment of salts dissolve and recrystallize in this microscopic timelapse video by retired engineer Jay McClellan. Every step is a gorgeous rainbow of color as the cobalt, copper, and sodium chlorides dissolve, mix, and change. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25210

In the 1920s, the world saw a new sort of marine propulsion, ships with one or more tall, smokeless cylinders. These Flettner rotors, named for their inventor, would spin in the wind, generating lift to propel the boat, much as a sail would. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25039

Although they're iconic, arch dams like the Hoover Dam are relatively unusual. In today'sPractical Engineering video, Grady looks at the forces a dam needs to withstand and where and why an arch dam is useful. #civilengineering #physics #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24817

Transferring cargo between ships and landing aircraft on carriers requires predicting how the waves will behave for the next few minutes. #fluiddynamics #nonlineardynamics #physics #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25215

Fall into our nearest star in this gorgeous high-resolution view of the Sun. Taken by Solar Orbiter, a joint NASA-ESA mission, the image stretches from the fiery photosphere -- full of filaments and prominences -- to the wispy yet unbelievably hot corona. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=23960

Photographer Rosita Dimitrova describes Iceland as "an absolute heaven" for aerial photography like this featured image. #fluiddynamics #fluidsasart #geophysics #physics #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24542

Watch a hagfish's slime threads unfurl in today's FYFD post. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25154

The North Pole of Mars is a raised spiral, and each winter a new layer, roughly a meter thick, of carbon dioxide ice gets deposited over it. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24591

The Sub-Antarctic Mode Waters (SAMW) lie in the southern Indian Ocean and the east and central Pacific Ocean. Scientists have long debated the origins of the SAMW's waters, and a new study may have an answer fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=24761

Siphons are a bit mind-boggling for anyone who has internalized the idea that water always flows downhill. But gravity actually allows a siphon's water to flow up and over an obstacle, provided certain conditions are met. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=25131