A number of striking sculptures from the first solo exhibition of Korean artist Jang Yong Sun entitled Particles of Dark Matter. Sun welds thousands of steel rings to form these amoeba-like structures that despite having the appearance of being precariously fragile must be extremely heavy. If you like these, you might also enjoy the work of Mike Castator. (via 준다메다 and art company gig)
A viscous fluid inside a horizontally rotating circular cylinder forms a shark-tooth-like pattern along the fluid’s free surface. This is one of several patterns observed depending on the fluid’s viscosity and surface tension and the rotational rate of the cylinder. (Photo credit: S. Thoroddsen and L. Mahadevan; for more, see Thoroddsen and Mahadevan 1996 and 1997)
Water droplets sprinkled on a sufficiently hot frying pan will skitter and skate across the surface on a thin layer of vapor due to the Leidenfrost effect. When a solid object is much warmer than a liquid’s boiling temperature, the surface is surrounded by a vapor cloud until the solid cools to the point that the vapor can no longer be sustained. Then the vapor breaks down in an explosive boiling full of bubbles. Unless, as researchers have just published in Nature, the solid is treated with a superhydrophobic coating. The water-repellent surface prevents the bubbling, even as the sphere cools. The technique could be used to reduce drag in applications like the channels of a microfluidic device. (Video credit: I. Vakarelski et al.; see also Nature News; submitted by Bobby E)
‘Ice’ was the piece in my last show in Birmingham. There is another one planned for this winter with some of the same group of very talented artists, as well as some fresh faces. Keep your eyes peeled for more info.
Photgraph by Stuart Beesley http://stuartbeesley.co.uk/
This high-speed video shows a soap bubble being blown via didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by the Indigenous Australians. The oscillations of the capillary waves on the surface of the bubble vary with the frequency of note being played. High frequency notes excite small wavelengths, whereas lower notes create large wavelength oscillations. For more fun, check out what you can do with didgeridoos in space. (submitted by Christopher B)
Super-stretchy, super-strong hydrogel is researchers’ new best friend
The material can even recover from being over-stretched by being heated to 176 degrees Fahrenheit.:O
Flubber?!
“The helical coiling of plant tendrils has fascinated scientists for centuries, yet the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Moreover, despite Darwin’s widely accepted interpretation of coiled tendrils as soft springs, their mechanical behavior remains unknown. Our experiments on cucumber tendrils demonstrate that tendril coiling occurs via asymmetric contraction of an internal fiber ribbon of specialized cells.” Via.