iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 18/09/2026

A seal looks across a rain-pocked ocean surface in this photograph by Luca Lorenz. Over the summer, I found myself in a similar state to this seal, swimming in a lake as rain began to fall. It turned into one of the most peaceful moments of recent memory. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33368

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/09/2026

The tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, relies on its antennae to sense odors, but a new study shows they may have some ability to smell with their wings also. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32467

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 16/09/2026

The Nivlisen Ice Shelf is a floating tongue of glacial ice flowing off Antarctica. During summer months, dots and streaks of brilliant blue meltwater appear on its surface. More water lies beneath, in crevasses and other drainage channels below the ice surface. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31702

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 15/09/2026

When New Horizons passed Pluto in 2015, the dwarf planet was wrapped in a thin, hazy atmosphere of nitrogen. What happens to that atmosphere as the planet travels to the farthest reaches of its orbit is unknown, but we may be starting to find out. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32472

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 14/09/2026

We typically think of a chunk of metal as being solid and unchanging. Maybe you get a little oxidation on the outside surface, but everything stays the same inside, right? As Steve Mould explains in today's video, in some applications, the situation isn't that si fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32062

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 11/09/2026

A lone shark cruises a sandy shoreline in the Maldives in this image from photographer Tim Burgess. Its path parallels the footsteps left by humans on the beach. Between the beach's sand and the ocean's deeper water, there's a narrow stripe of sand ripples. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32899

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 10/09/2026

When a fluid flows through a porous bed of grains--like sand, soil, or coffee grounds--the flow rate typically increases linearly with pressure. But that's not the case for espresso, which is typically brewed with 6-9 bars of pressure. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30967

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 09/09/2026

There's something about watching big, awkwardly-shaped insects taking off that doesn't get old. In today's video from Ant Lab, we see giant stick insects spreading their wings and taking off. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32238

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 08/09/2026

Snails have a mucus for every occasion. The grove snail/lemon snail makes five different varieties: one for lubricating its motion, one for adhering to surfaces, one to seal it in its shell for winter, and two to protect against predators. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32477

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 07/09/2026

When a heavier fluid sits atop a lighter one, the interface between them can be unstable. This means that even a very slight disturbance will be enough to cause fingers of dense (dark) fluid to sink while fingers of the lighter (white) fluid rise. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=12166

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 04/09/2026

Thirteen years ago, I made a prediction that work on how to avoid urinal splashback would win an Ig Nobel Prize. Today, I am, at last, vindicated. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=33327

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 03/09/2026

When New Horizons flew by Pluto, the dwarf planet's bright heart-shaped glacier at Sputnik Planitia garnered much attention. Now scientists think they've found evidence that liquid has flowed recently there. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32460

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 02/09/2026

Hurricane Katrina's storm surge flooded roughly 80% of New Orleans when multiple levees breached. In this video, Grady of Practical Engineering breaks down the engineering failures that made Katrina's flooding so bad. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32081

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 01/09/2026

New images from our most powerful solar telescope have finally revealed a phenomenon that's long been predicted: Kelvin-Helmholtz waves on the Sun's photosphere. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32451

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 31/08/2026

We're most familiar with the bright, forking lightning bolts that stretch from thunderstorms toward the ground, but there are even more types of lightning. Pictured here is a gigantic jet, a relatively recently-identified atmospheric phenomenon. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32012

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/08/2026

This timelapse from photographer Mike Olbinski shows a supercell thunderstorm that developed over Colorado and headed to Nebraska. The churning convection of the early storm makes for a dramatic backdrop to stormcloud's growing rotation. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30985

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/08/2026

Sperm whales like to nap under the water and away from the waves. They seem to do this in a vertical, head-up orientation. But how do they keep from bobbing up? fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32403

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 26/08/2026

Urban environments are full of impermeable surfaces. To keep the run-off from turning into a flood, developers often use retention and detention ponds to collect and slowly release stormwater. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30747

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 25/08/2026

For frost to spread on a surface, individual water droplets freeze and then spread the freezing front to a nearby droplet. Frequently that happens through an ice bridge that connects one droplet to the next. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32219

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/08/2026

Within the Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula about 650 light-years away, knots of dust and gas stream away from the central star. Though they appear small here, each contains a mass similar to the Earth's, spread out over an area larger than Pluto's orbit. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32387

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 21/08/2026

Our planet is constantly carved by the flow of wind, water, and ice. These images, all shortlisted by the International Aerial Photographer of the Year competition, highlight those forces. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31864

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 20/08/2026

Realistically modeling rainfall remains an extremely difficult problem. To be practical, results have to be on the scale of kilometers; no one is looking to find out whether rain will fall from one specific cloud over their head. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32214

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 20/08/2026

Many of us have a mental image of strings vibrating like a swinging jump rope, but that's not quite what you actually see. Instead, plucked strings often look strangely triangular, as Henry explains in this Minute Physics video. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32350

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 18/08/2026

Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a strong global magnetic field, which allows the solar wind to strip its atmosphere, but the exact mechanisms of that process have been unclear. But a new study shows that a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is the key. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32392

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/08/2026

Footage of a massive iceberg flipping in Greenland has gone viral. Icebergs shift like this because they melt unevenly, with submerged areas melting faster. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32353

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 14/08/2026

It's no secret that I'm a fan of fountain pens. They're just one way I like to have little celebrations of fluid physics in my everyday life. That said, I don't typically use anything with a monster flex nib like what you see here. This is extra. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32241

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 13/08/2026

Nature is full of helical fibers, including in plants and bird feathers. In this study, researchers explore how these soft springs react to droplets. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32226

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 12/08/2026

We've seen a few different kinds of levitation here over the years, including via acoustic waves, aerodynamics, and Leidenfrost effect. Here, Steve Mould describes something a bit different: a levitation squeeze film driven by ultrasonic transducers. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31064

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 11/08/2026

Like fighter pilots of old, male dragonflies engage in aerial combat where each tries to outmaneuver the other to keep a sight on their rival's tail. A recent study observed this combat in the field and uncovered some surprising similarities to dogfighting. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=32017

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 10/08/2026

In raindrops, ink-jet printing, and spray painting, droplets get broken apart by the air flowing around them. Here, researchers investigate how a jet of fluid can push a droplet from its perch, or--with enough momentum--shatter the droplet. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=27748

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 07/08/2026

Photographer Barbara Brown captured these striking aerial views in Namibia. Coastal dunes and saltworks feature in the photos from Walvis Bay, where wind, waves, evaporation, and humankind have shaped the landscape. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31824

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 06/08/2026

Reef-building coral polyps constantly stir the water around them with dense carpets of microscopic hair-like cilia. The beating of the cilia helps polyps feed while also pushing away sediment and debris. Their stirring increases nutrient and gas exchange with se fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30932

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 05/08/2026

If you put a thumb over your hose's outlet, you get a faster jet, but how does that affect the flow rate? That's the question Grady starts from in this Practical Engineering video exploring pipe flow physics. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31337

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 04/08/2026

Snoring and sleep apnea--a condition where aeroelastic flutter obstructs the airway and stops breathing during sleep--often go hand-in-hand. Researchers are developing an audio screening technique for potential sleep apnea sufferers. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31290

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 03/08/2026

Of the more than 9 billion metric tons of plastic that's been produced, a mere 9% has been recycled. About 12% has been incinerated, and the remainder is just out there--in our homes, our landfills, and, unfortunately, in our oceans. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31688

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 31/07/2026

A supercell thunderstorm in New Mexico appears almost otherworldly in this photo from Dennis Hualong Zhang. Glowing from within and stacked like a layer cake, the storm menaces the nearby road and fields. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=26683

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 31/07/2026

Uranus and Neptune--known as our system's ice giants--are our least explored planets. "Ice giant" is one structure that matches the limited measurements we have from these planets, but, as today's preprint study points out, it's not the only one. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31585

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 29/07/2026

It's the summertime, so Gav and Dan of the Slow Mo Guys are back to experimenting with giant water balloons. In this video, they send several careening down a slope into Dan's face. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31603

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 28/07/2026

When pulling a shot of espresso, there are complicated physics at play. Here, researchers used X-ray tomography to visualize how and when water moves through the bed, which affects how flavors extract. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30959

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 27/07/2026

For much of the year, Cañon Fiord in the Canadian Arctic lies under ice and snow, but in the summer melt season, colors peek out. Here sea ice and sediment swirl in the fjord in eddies that are kilometers wide. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30687

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 24/07/2026

Iceland's Múlajökull glacier is prone to sudden surges, where rapid ice flow is interspersed between periods of quiescence or retreat. #geophysics #glacier #physics #science fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31457

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 23/07/2026

Most of what we know about Earth's interior comes from observing how seismic waves--mostly from earthquakes--bounce around. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31424

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 22/07/2026

Walter, a young African penguin at the New York Aquarium, loves soap bubbles. In fairness to Walter, so do most people I've met. There's just something that feels a bit magical about these ephemeral rainbow spheres that pop at a (dry) touch. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31695

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 21/07/2026

The classic theory of steady wave motion predicts a phenomenon called Stokes drift. But in the real world, ocean waves aren't quite so neat and unchanging. A new study looks at what happens when waves are decaying in strength. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31590

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 20/07/2026

NASA's X-59 aircraft is intended to demonstrate supersonic flight without the boom. Although we haven't yet heard its "sonic thump," we do have a glimpse of what to expect, thanks to wind tunnel tests. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31735

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 17/07/2026

Life in Venice Beach lends itself to wave-watching, or so it seems for photographer Craig Hubbard. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31447

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 16/07/2026

Our largest space telescope, JWST, has a 6.5-meter reflector, the largest we could manage given manufacturing constraints and the need to launch it in a rocket. To reach even larger sizes, researchers are considering a new type of reflector: one made of liquid. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31563

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 15/07/2026

In cold weather, a new geological feature has shown up at Utah's Great Salt Lake in the last decade. These salty mirabilite mounds form terraced crystals that resemble Yellowstone's Mammoth Hot Springs. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31419

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 14/07/2026

Here, researchers explore what happens when the droplet can dissolve the fiber it's suspended on. As the authors note, a lumberjack who cuts the branch they sit on makes a fatal choice. The droplet sees a different outcome. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=31524

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Nicole Sharp @nicolesharp.com · 13/07/2026

In the early twentieth century, Los Angeles had capital and political willpower, but not water. So it built an engineering marvel, the LA Aquaduct, to guide water from the Sierra Nevadas down to the growing city. fyfluiddynamics.com/?p=30835

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