Browse Physics

Simulations show that breaking ocean waves contribute most of their energy to the air, rather than the water, which could affect cloud formation and climate evolution.

New theory and experiments explain why the lengthy strands that dangle from a spoon of honey can get so long without breaking up.

Tiny “ball bearings” could drastically reduce the friction between two liquids sliding past one another.

Experiments show that blood plasma has elastic properties that could influence the way blood flows through small vessels.

An electric field applied to a soap film induces fluid flow through the film and causes its thickness to increase—a phenomenon that could be useful in microfluidic systems.

An equation that describes a wide array of phenomena can be directly tested by watching the equivalent of a drying coffee drip.

Two-dimensional simulations provide the first element-by-element accounting of the fluid and grain flow in an underwater avalanche.

Orderly flow in fluid extracted from a living cell results from the spontaneous organization of randomly-oriented, microscopic forces.

Researchers used a nanoscale tunnel in a silicon chip to measure a flow rate of a few picoliters per minute, which is smaller than any previous observation.

Surprisingly uniform layers that form in the ocean result from salt fingers—long, vertical tubes of water with salt content different from their surroundings—according to simulations.

Some droplets throw out a fine spray as they hit a liquid surface because of a hidden pattern of fluid flow.

Gaskets and other seals can stop leaks even if the leak-preventing surfaces have just 42 percent of their area in contact at the microscopic scale, according to computer simulations.

Mysterious ripples on stalactites are explained by a theory that includes the dripping water’s fluid dynamics. The results could help researchers reconstruct ancient precipitation records.

A uniform stream of liquid can form one big drop or break up into many droplets. Experiments test the conditions that lead to breakup.

Salt crystallizing on walls or old artifacts forms in discrete bunches, rather than coating the surface, because of an unexpected feedback effect, according to experiments and simulations.

An improved version of a technique for folding tiny objects from a thin membrane uses a magnetic field to affect the shape. The membrane wraps around a droplet of fluid that distorts in response to the field.

A rapidly expanding and collapsing microbubble in a fluid exerts forces strong enough to roll submerged particles stuck to a solid surface, which may explain how ultrasonic cleaning of jewelry and silicon wafers in a liquid removes dirt.

Sometimes particles dispersed in a rotating fluid collect into a seemingly rigid filament structure. A new mathematical model explains this mysterious behavior, first observed 15 years ago.

Liquid sodium agitated gently in a rotating tank can significantly amplify a magnetic field. The experiment is the first step toward demonstrating a self-sustaining field in a low-turbulence fluid, which may be analogous to Earth’s core.

A self-replicating “smoke ring” flow can emerge when a continuous chemical reaction drives fluid flow–a common situation in the atmosphere and oceans but rarely studied in 3D.