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Pattern formation by turbulent cascades
Turbulent energy cascades can be arrested by non-dissipative viscosities, resulting in pattern formation at intermediate length scales.
- Xander M. de Wit
- , Michel Fruchart
- & Vincenzo Vitelli
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Research Highlight |
Laser pulses engrave an unlikely surface: soap films
Bumping up the detergent content allows a laser pulse to carve a groove in ethereal films.
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News & Views |
Active fluids navigate networks by solving sudoku-like problems
Networks filled with self-propelled fluids display meandering patterns that have been shown to follow rules similar to those of sudoku puzzles — offering design principles for microfluidic devices, and the possibility of ‘active fluid’ logic.
- Mathieu Le Verge-Serandour
- & Karen Alim
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Research Highlight |
The mystery of Feynman’s sprinkler is solved at last
A puzzle named after the Nobel-prizewinning physicist has been solved by experiments with a submerged sprinkler.
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News |
Could giant underwater curtains slow ice-sheet melting?
The curtains would separate polar ice sheets from warm ocean waters — but like other geoengineering proposals, the idea divides scientists.
- Xiaoying You
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News |
Asteroid sampler’s hypersonic return thrilled scientists: here’s what they learnt
The re-entry of the OSIRIS-REx sample canister is the most closely observed of its type in history.
- Alexandra Witze
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News & Views |
Cardiac cycle inspires optimized pipe flow
Pulsatile driving of pipe flow that imitates waveforms measured in the human aorta has been shown to suppress turbulence and increase the energy efficiency of the transport of fluids in pipes.
- Angela Busse
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Article |
Turbulence suppression by cardiac-cycle-inspired driving of pipe flow
Turbulence can be reduced by more than 25% in ordinary pipe flow by unsteady, pulsatile driving specifically mimicking the cardiac cycle and extending this method to large Reynolds numbers.
- D. Scarselli
- , J. M. Lopez
- & B. Hof
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News & Views |
Clues to rain formation found in droplet images
X-ray and optical imaging have revealed the intricate process through which droplets freeze during the formation of rain. The results could help to explain how clouds are able to produce enough ice particles to make rain.
- Thomas Leisner
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Article |
Universal equation of state for wave turbulence in a quantum gas
Equilibrium-like state variables, related by an equation of state, are identified in a study of turbulent cascade of matter waves in a far-from-equilibrium ultracold atomic Bose gas.
- Lena H. Dogra
- , Gevorg Martirosyan
- & Zoran Hadzibabic
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News |
Tiny spinning robots sorted themselves into this beautiful pattern
The microbots help to explain how order arises in a disordered system — image of the week.
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Article |
Hydration solids
A study shows that water can control macroscopic properties of biological materials through the hydration force, giving rise to a distinct class of solid matter with unusual properties.
- Steven G. Harrellson
- , Michael S. DeLay
- & Ozgur Sahin
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Research Highlight |
Smash-ups make a tame blob of turbulence
Collisions between ring-shaped vortices create a floating island of turbulence in a water tank.
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Article |
Odour motion sensing enhances navigation of complex plumes
Odour motion contains valuable directional information that is absent from the airflow alone, and Drosophila use this directional information to shape their navigational decisions.
- Nirag Kadakia
- , Mahmut Demir
- & Thierry Emonet
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Research Briefing |
A machine that uses the surface of water to braid microscopic fibres
Conventional manufacturing methods struggle to meet the increasing demand for microscopic and nanoscale products, because small things are difficult to manipulate. An innovative machine that uses a water–air interface to grab and manoeuvre microscopic objects might be a powerful tool in this race-to-the-smallest.
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Article |
3D-printed machines that manipulate microscopic objects using capillary forces
By harnessing capillary forces, 3D-printed machines with cross-sections that vary by height can move floating objects programmatically in two dimensions and even braid filaments without physical contact.
- Cheng Zeng
- , Maya Winters Faaborg
- & Vinothan N. Manoharan
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News & Views |
Microgravity makes fully mobile droplets measurable
Experiments conducted in Earth’s orbit have probed the complicated dynamics of moving droplets by circumventing the size limits imposed by gravity. The findings could lead to improved microchip fabrication techniques.
- Michelle M. Driscoll
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Article |
Diverse tsunamigenesis triggered by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption
January 2022 saw the first observations of a tsunami resulting from a large emergent volcanic eruption (Hunga Tonga) captured using modern instrumentation, with broad implications for hazard management in similar geophysical settings.
- Patrick Lynett
- , Maile McCann
- & Gizem Ezgi Cinar
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Research Briefing |
Vortices produced and studied in electron fluids
Swirling vortices have been directly observed in a flow of electric current for the first time. Unlike conventional viscous fluids, collective fluid-like behaviour in this case is not caused by particle–particle collisions, but results from a previously unidentified mechanism involving single electrons scattering from material surfaces at small angles.
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Article |
Direct observation of vortices in an electron fluid
Vortices in an electron fluid are directly observed in a para-hydrodynamic regime in which the spatial diffusion of electron momenta is enabled by small-angle scattering rather than electron–electron scattering.
- A. Aharon-Steinberg
- , T. Völkl
- & E. Zeldov
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News & Views |
From the archive: transatlantic confusion, and a fascination with canals
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Article |
Cilia metasurfaces for electronically programmable microfluidic manipulation
Artificial cilia composed of surface electrochemical actuators are combined in arrays to create arbitrary flow patterns in liquids, and, when integrated with light-powered CMOS circuits, enable programmable wireless operation at low voltage.
- Wei Wang
- , Qingkun Liu
- & Itai Cohen
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News & Views |
A lab-on-a-chip that takes the chip out of the lab
A microfluidic system achieves miniaturization without the need for extra equipment, bringing chip-based devices closer to mainstream commercial reality, with a framework that could be widely applied to diagnostics.
- Mazher Iqbal Mohammed
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Research Highlight |
Physicists think outside the box for better package design
Air-flow analysis reveals ideal configuration for a ‘telescoping’ box.
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News & Views |
Bacteria swim faster when obstacles keep them in line
Adding particles or polymers to a fluid can make bacteria swim straighter — and therefore faster — than they do through water, by inducing a torque that changes their body alignment.
- Raphaël Jeanneret
- & Marco Polin
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Models of flow through sponges must consider the sponge tissue
- Giacomo Falcucci
- , Giovanni Polverino
- & Sauro Succi
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Research Highlight |
Fluid dynamics rises to the challenge of yeast-free pizza
A toothsome pizza base is achieved by bubbling gas through balls of dough.
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Research Briefing |
Water and carbon make a quantum couple
The ultralow friction of water on extremely smooth carbon surfaces has been puzzling researchers for more than a decade. A new theory of the interface between a solid and a liquid shows that this phenomenon might be governed by quantum effects.
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Article |
Fluctuation-induced quantum friction in nanoscale water flows
The quantum contribution to friction enables the rationalization of the peculiar friction properties of water on carbon surfaces, and in particular the radius dependence of slippage in carbon nanotubes.
- Nikita Kavokine
- , Marie-Laure Bocquet
- & Lydéric Bocquet
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News & Views |
Hot surfaces cooled by isolating steam from spray
An innovative microstructure design distributes water to rapidly cool a hot surface without interference from the steam that is created in the process. This approach could enable safer and more efficient power generation.
- James C. Bird
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Article |
Inhibiting the Leidenfrost effect above 1,000 °C for sustained thermal cooling
Structured thermal armours on the surface of a solid inhibit the Leidenfrost effect, even when heated to temperatures in excess of 1,000 °C, pointing the way towards new cooling strategies for high-temperature solids.
- Mengnan Jiang
- , Yang Wang
- & Zuankai Wang
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Research Highlight |
No bursting for these record-breaking bubbles
By tinkering with the formula for soap bubbles, scientists create an orb that lasts more than a year.
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Article |
Sublimation-driven convection in Sputnik Planitia on Pluto
A modelling study describing the formation of the polygonal surface structures in Sputnik Planitia on Pluto shows that convection driven by ice sublimation can generate planetary-scale surface patterns.
- Adrien Morison
- , Stéphane Labrosse
- & Gaël Choblet
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Research Highlight |
Line in the sand: the physics of halting a dune on the march
A laboratory ‘roundabout’ helps scientists to determine the types of barrier that can halt an underwater dune’s travels.
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Article |
Three-dimensional electronic microfliers inspired by wind-dispersed seeds
With a design inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, a series of three-dimensional passive fliers at the macro-, meso- and microscale are realized that can bear active electronic payloads.
- Bong Hoon Kim
- , Kan Li
- & John A. Rogers
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Research Highlight |
Are 20 seconds of handwashing really necessary? Physics says yes
A simple model suggests that there’s no fast way to rid hands of virus-sized particles.
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News & Views |
Bouncing droplets mimic spin systems
Experiments show that a collection of bouncing fluid droplets can behave like a microscopic system of spins — the intrinsic angular momenta of particles. This discovery could lead to a better understanding of the physics of spin systems.
- Nicolas Vandewalle
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Article |
Emergent order in hydrodynamic spin lattices
A macroscopic analogue of a spin system is shown to emerge in an ensemble of droplets bouncing on the surface of a vibrating bath, revealing symmetry-breaking phenomena such as ‘magnetic’ ordering.
- Pedro J. Sáenz
- , Giuseppe Pucci
- & John W. M. Bush
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News & Views |
Fluid flow through a deep-sea sponge could inspire engineering designs
Sophisticated numerical simulations reveal that the beautiful structure of a sponge known as Venus’s flower basket reduces hydrodynamic drag, and probably aids the capture of food particles, as well as sperm for sexual reproduction.
- Laura A. Miller
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Nature Podcast |
How the US is rebooting gun violence research
Funding for gun violence research in the US returns after a 20-year federal hiatus, and the glass sponges that can manipulate ocean currents.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Article |
Extreme flow simulations reveal skeletal adaptations of deep-sea sponges
High-performance hydrodynamic simulations show that the skeletal structure of the deep-sea sponge Euplectella aspergillum reduces the hydrodynamic stresses on it, while possibly being beneficial for feeding and reproduction.
- Giacomo Falcucci
- , Giorgio Amati
- & Sauro Succi
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Nature Video |
Why leaky pipes can be better for moving water
Tiny 3D printed structures let water flow through them despite being open to the air
- Ellie Mackay
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News & Views |
Programmable capillary action controls fluid flows
A technological platform has been developed in which millimetre-scale cubes are assembled into 3D structures that control capillary action — enabling programmable fluid flows and modelling of a range of fluidic processes.
- Tammi L. van Neel
- & Ashleigh B. Theberge
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Article |
Cellular fluidics
Cellular fluidics provides a platform of unit-cell-based, three-dimensional structures for the deterministic control of multiphase flow, transport and reaction processes.
- Nikola A. Dudukovic
- , Erika J. Fong
- & Eric B. Duoss
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Research Highlight |
How does a cylinder levitate? Scientists explain the maths behind the magic
A model shows how a spinning cylinder can stay suspended in the air next to an oil-slicked moving belt.
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Article |
Stabilization of liquid instabilities with ionized gas jets
A weakly ionized gas jet impinging on a water surface is shown to produce a more stable cavity than does a neutral gas jet, with implications for plasma–liquid interactions.
- Sanghoo Park
- , Wonho Choe
- & Uroš Cvelbar
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News Feature |
Face masks: what the data say
The science supports that face coverings are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the debate trundles on. How much evidence is enough?
- Lynne Peeples
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Article |
Concentric liquid reactors for chemical synthesis and separation
In a rotating reactor, immiscible or pairwise-immiscible liquids organize into stable but internally agitated concentric layers, enabling multistep syntheses and separations of reaction mixtures.
- Olgierd Cybulski
- , Miroslaw Dygas
- & Bartosz A. Grzybowski
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Nature Video |
The weird physics of levitating liquids and upside-down buoyancy
Video shows model boats floating on an upside-down sea, demonstrating a peculiar new phenomenon.
- Shamini Bundell
A quirky fluid that has robotic capabilities