Alex is an engineer?

Breaking: Fiery Truck Explosion Causes Oil Spill in Illinois. Closes Critical Canada/US Enbridge Oil Pipeline.

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:54:28 -0400

Breaking: Fiery Truck Explosion Causes Oil Spill in Illinois. Closes Critical Canada/US Enbridge Oil...

jtotheizzoe: How to win a climate change argument, in one...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:49:59 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

How to win a climate change argument, in one chart.

(via Slate Magazine)

kampfgruppe: The mantis shrimp is one of the most incredible...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:45:33 -0400

kampfgruppe:

The mantis shrimp is one of the most incredible creatures found in our oceans. Over millions of years, it has equipped itself with an arsenal to rival that of any other organism, besting the limits of human technology on more than one front.

Firstly, it packs the biggest punch of any predator, with a sophisticated muscle mechanism allowing acceleration in excess of 102,000 m/s² to be attained and a speed of 23 m/s from a standing start, about the acceleration of a .22 calibre bullet. Because they strike so rapidly, they generate cavitation bubbles between the appendage and the striking surface.The collapse of these cavitation bubbles produces measurable forces on their prey in addition to the instantaneous forces of 1,500 newtons that are caused by the impact of the appendage against the striking surface, which means that the prey is hit twice by a single strike; first by the claw and then by the collapsing cavitation bubbles that immediately follow. With this ability to create extreme low pressure behind it’s extended arm, causing the water to spontaneously boil, no prey stands a chance. This action releases intense energy, enough to break sheets of glass. Even if the initial strike misses the prey, the resulting shock wave can be enough to kill or stun the prey.

Additionally, the mantis shrimp has the most sophisticated and extensive eyes of any known creature. With their unique shape and composition, the shrimp can see in most directions simultaneously, as well as observing more of the spectrum than us humans, both at the infra-red and ultra-violet ends.

Oh and it looks fucking beautiful.

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: In this video, researcher Leif Ristroph...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:33:49 -0500

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

In this video, researcher Leif Ristroph and his colleagues have used a clever way to simulate flapping flight, not by actuating their fliers but by oscillating the flow. The flow is driven by a speaker, which causes the air above it to move up and down. Using straws to simulate the honeycomb flow conditioners often used in wind tunnels helps smooth flow. The end result is a great table-top set-up for testing and refining miniature flier designs. The best fliers stay aloft thanks to asymmetry in the streamwise direction; when the air moves upward, the flier catches the air, maximizing drag so that it is carried upward. When the flow reverses, however, the shape of the flier is more streamlined, so the drag is reduced, helping the flier stay aloft. (Video credit: Science Friday/Leif Ristroph et al.)

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Wind tunnel testing plays a major role...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:39:34 -0500

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Wind tunnel testing plays a major role in the planning of many space missions. Here a model of the Mars Sample Return Orbiter is tested at Mach 10 to determine the heat shield’s response to aerobraking off Mars’ atmosphere. The colors are the result of electron beam fluorescence, in which an electron gun is used to ionize molecules in the flow, which causes them to emit photons (light). The technique can be used for flow visualization—as in the case of the shock waves shown here—or to measure flow characteristics like density, temperature, and velocity. (Photo credit: Thierry Pot/DAFE/ONERA)

Canon 20D in Windows 7

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 10:53:06 -0400

Just got a new computer with Windows 7 (i know, its only days before windows 8 comes out, but i dont...

Using Netduino in Linux with Windows Virtual Machine

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:57:29 -0400

I have been programming a Netduino for some robotics projects and I just wanted to document some of...

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Many common fluids—like air and...

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:46:59 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Many common fluids—like air and water—are Newtonian fluids, meaning that stress in the fluid is linearly proportional to the rate at which the fluid is deformed. Viscosity is the constant that relates the stress and rate of strain, or deformation. The term non-Newtonian is used to describe any fluid whose properties do not follow this relationship; instead their viscosity is dependent on the rate of strain, viscoelasticity, or even changes with time. A neat common example of a non-Newtonian fluid is oobleck, a mixture of cornstarch and water that is shear-thickening, meaning that it is resistant to fast deformations. Like the cornstarch-based custard in the video above, these fluids react similarly to a solid when struck, resisting changing their shape, but if deformed slowly, they will flow in the manner of any liquid.

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Flow visualization is a powerful design...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 15:58:14 -0400

Fence (50% open area) upstream of a heliostat array

Heliostat array with ramp-style berm upstream

Series of fences upstream of a heliostat array

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Flow visualization is a powerful design tool for engineers. When Google was interested in determining optimal configurations for their heliostat array, they turned to NASA Ames’ water tunnel facility to test upstream barriers to deflect flow off the heliostats. In each photo, flow is from left to right and fluorescent dye is used to mark streamlines and reveal qualitative flow detail. Upstream of the obstacles, the streamlines are coherent and laminar, but after deflection, the flow breaks down into turbulence. In this case, such turbulence is desirable because it lowers the local fluid velocity and thus the aerodynamic loads experienced by each heliostat, potentially allowing for a savings in fabrication. For more, see Google’s report on the project. (Photo credits: google.org)

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: In rowing, as in any water sport, drag...

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:13:37 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

In rowing, as in any water sport, drag comes in three varieties: skin friction, form (or pressure) drag, and wave drag. Skin friction comes from the friction between the hull and water causing the boat to drag water with it as it moves. This can be mitigated with the right materials and surface finish but will never be completely negligible. In fact, the racing shells used in rowing are unusual for boats because skin friction is their major source of resistance. This is because form drag, caused by the shape of the boat cutting through the water, and wave drag, the energy lost due to the waves that form along the hull, are small in racing shells due to their long, narrow, and streamlined shape. Because skin friction dominates among the three types of drag, the force a rower overcomes to move the boat is proportional to the hull’s velocity squared, and the power required to do so is proportional to the hull’s velocity cubed. This means that it is more efficient for rowers to keep a constant hull speed throughout a race than it is to start slow and speed up or start fast and slow down because the work (power x time) needed to keep a constant speed is smaller. For more on the physics of rowing, check out Anu Dudhia’s excellent website or this video from Physics of Life. (Photo credits: Ecouterre, AP)

FYFD is celebrating the Olympics by featuring the fluid dynamics of sport. Check out some of our previous posts, including what makes a pool fast, how divers reduce splash, and the aerodynamics of badminton.

David Rumsey georeferenced historical maps and overlayed them on goole maps

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:13:27 -0400

David Rumsey georeferenced historical maps and overlayed them on goole maps: This is pretty cool,...

Environment: Greenland's Ice Sheet Melting Faster than We've Ever Seen(via @io9)

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:39:52 -0400

Environment: Greenland's Ice Sheet Melting Faster than We've Ever Seen(via @io9): It was just...

Share Folders in Virtualbox OSE

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:03:14 -0400

I had some problems trying to mount shared folders in my virtualbox guest at work, so I thought I...

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: This video shows sea surface temperature...

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:58:29 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

This video shows sea surface temperature results and their seasonal variation from a numerical simulation modeling circulation in the atmosphere and oceans. Modeling such enormous problems requires the development of reasonable models of the turbulent physics, clever algorithms to quickly progress the solutions, relatively low-fidelity (a single grid node may cover tens of kilometers), and enormous computing power. (Video credit: NOAA; via Gizmodo)

Caffeine: A User’s Guide to Getting Optimally Wired

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:14:52 -0400

Caffeine: A User’s Guide to Getting Optimally Wired: An interesting take on coffee use. I may try...

Basic Raspberry Pi Setup (with Debian Squeeze)

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:15:09 -0400

Basic Raspberry Pi Setup (with Debian Squeeze): alexcrosbystuff: This blog post was a big help in...

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: This video describes how the sun’s...

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:02:45 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

This video describes how the sun’s energy drives wind and ocean currents on earth. As solar winds stream forth from the sun, our magnetosphere deflects the brunt of the impact (creating auroras at the poles) while the atmosphere, land masses, and oceans absorb thermal energy from the sun’s light. Because of our cycles of day and night and the differences in how land, water, and ice absorb heat, temperature differentials around the earth drive a massive heat engine, causing the circulation of water and wind all around our world. Numerical simulations like the ones underlying this video are vital for the prediction of climate and weather, as well as for developing models and techniques that can be applied to other problems in science and engineering. (Video credit: NASA; via Gizmodo)

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: What does traffic have to do with fluid...

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:49:48 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

What does traffic have to do with fluid dynamics? Rather a lot, actually! Many parallels exist between traffic and compressible fluid flow. One such example, the concept of a shockwave, is demonstrated in the video above. As the traffic jam develops, the cars experience sudden changes in their velocity and relative distance (in a fluid, this would be density). This change travels backward through the traffic in the form of a shockwave, just the same as discontinuous changes in a fluid.

Road construction provides another common example of compressible-flow-like behavior in cars. For an incompressible fluid like water, reducing the area of a pipe would increase the velocity, but just the opposite happens when a road is reduced from two lanes to one. Traffic slows down and clumps together. When the road opens back up from one lane to two, suddenly the speed and the distance between cars increases. This is exactly what happens in a rocket nozzle—it’s the expanding bell-like shape that causes air to accelerate supersonically. (Video credit: New Scientist)

http://gizmodo.com/5921296/googles-artificial-brain-loves-to-watch-cat-videos

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 21:43:48 -0400

http://gizmodo.com/5921296/googles-artificial-brain-loves-to-watch-cat-videos

Birthing: Home Births Are Actually Kind of Dangerous(via @Jezebel)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:42:01 -0400

Birthing: Home Births Are Actually Kind of Dangerous(via @Jezebel): Now that Ricki Lake made it seem...