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Articles on Fluid dynamics

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In addition to a player’s ability to throw it, a number of factors will influence a ball’s flight, including its size, inflation pressure and texture. (Shutterstock)

Higher, faster: what influences the aerodynamics of a football?

A football’s dimensions, pressure and texture affect its aerodynamics, i.e. the forces exerted by the air on the ball as it flies.
The idea that the Coriolis force influences how water drains frequently appears in popular culture and urban legends. frantic00 / Shutterstock

Does the direction water rotates down the drain depend on which hemisphere you’re in? Debunking the Coriolis effect in your sink

This physical effect does explain how some massive natural phenomena like hurricanes behave. But on the scale of water in your sink – not so much.
Tumor cells traverse many different types of fluids as they travel through the body. Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

How cancer cells move and metastasize is influenced by the fluids surrounding them – understanding how tumors migrate can help stop their spread

Counterintuitively, cells move faster in thicker fluids. New research on breast cancer cells explains why, and reveals the role that fluid viscosity plays in metastasis.
With deepfake audio, that familiar voice on the other end of the line might not even be human let alone the person you think it is. Knk Phl Prasan Kha Phibuly/EyeEm via Getty Images

Deepfake audio has a tell – researchers use fluid dynamics to spot artificial imposter voices

AI-generated voice-alikes can be indistinguishable from the real person’s speech to the human ear. A computer model that gives voice to the dinosaurs turns out to be a good way to tell the difference.
Measuring in at 10,159 miles (16,350 kilometers) in width (as of April 3, 2017) Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Christopher Go

Contrary to recent reports, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is not in danger of disappearing

Little bits of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot seem to be flaking off. Is it a sign of the demise of this enigmatic red cloud, or just a consequence of atmospheric chaos we can’t see from above?
Defecation duration is surprisingly similar throughout the mammal world. Elephant image via www.shutterstock.com.

Physics of poo: Why it takes you and an elephant the same amount of time

New parenthood got our fluid dynamics experts thinking about what ends up in the diaper. They headed to the zoo and the lab to come up with a cohesive physics story for how defecation works.
Gotcha, five times faster than the blink of an eye. Candler Hobbs/Georgia Tech

The frog tongue is a high-speed adhesive

How do a frog’s tongue and saliva work together to be sticky enough to lift 1.4 times the animal’s body weight? Painstaking lab work found their spit switches between two distinct phases to nab prey.
Dr Andrew Stephenson and Dr Anthony Jacko examine the longest running laboratory experiment in the world.

Explainer: the pitch drop experiment

Something strange is happening within the world-famous pitch drop experiment with the latest drop forming much faster than the last couple of drops. There have been nine drops so far and all attention…

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