Browse Physics

Plasma flux ropes, which occur in events like solar flares, have been observed in experiments to bounce off each other instead of merging and annihilating.

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.

Simulations show that fluid could potentially be pumped in a complete circuit through a nanometer-sized tube if its surface properties are manipulated and it’s heated in the right places.

Direct measurements show that the fluid flow around swimming microorganisms is more complex than previously thought, with important implications for how they interact and behave.

Where do cosmic magnetic fields come from?

An alternative to a needle for penetrating cells may be found in the precise and forceful fluid jet created by two bubbles expanding and collapsing in tandem.

Though often ignored, the normal component of a superfluid reveals much about turbulence in a two-fluid system.

Simulations show that when a particle trapped in a fluid-filled pipe moves, it can affect distant particles in the pipe and even pull them in the opposite direction.

The patterns in two spinning tanks of fluid representing different parts of the Earth’s atmosphere can synchronize with only a small amount of thermal coupling, suggesting that heat flow can transmit weather cycles over long distances.

Spray deposition processes are determined by how droplets bounce off or stick to water-repellant surfaces.

As aqueous emulsions containing colloidal particles dry, two very different behaviors are observed.

The ability to predict structurally localized patches in a fluid provides a step toward describing the evolution from laminar to turbulent flow.

Experiments show that swimming microorganisms can change a fluid’s viscosity. Not all of the effects can be explained by current theories.

Heat and a magnetic field cause liquid lithium to swirl rapidly, an effect that could be useful in fusion reactors.

Experiments now quantitatively confirm the standard model of electrokinetics, in which electric fields drive the flow of electrolytes, potentially leading to better sensors and biomedical diagnostic devices.

Molecular dynamics studies indicate a new phase of liquid hydrogen under high pressure.

A combination of simulations and experiments explicitly demonstrates that common chemical reactions can drive convection flows in fluids.

Supersonic jets of air can be produced when a solid object falls into water.

Temperature and pressure appear to play a more dovetailed role in the glass transition than previously recognized.

A new phonon mode has been observed in a two-dimensional plasma crystal.