‘Manu jumping’: The physics behind making humongous splashes in the pool

Do a manu jump and you’ll likely make the biggest splash at the pool party.

Daehyun Choi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
May 16, 2025 • ~6 min

The science behind airplane deicing – a mechanical engineer explains how chemistry and physics make flying a more uplifting experience

Waiting for your plane to get deiced may be annoying, but it’s an essential safety step in chilly conditions.

Andrew Sommers, Professor of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Miami University • conversation
Feb. 28, 2025 • ~10 min

‘Dancing’ raisins − a simple kitchen experiment reveals how objects can extract energy from their environment and come to life

Want to bring extra life to a glass of champagne or soda water? Physicists will tell you to drop in a small object, such as a berry or raisin.

Saverio Eric Spagnolie, Professor of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Madison • conversation
May 13, 2024 • ~9 min

Tiny water-walking bugs provide scientists with insights on how microplastics are pushed underwater

Microplastic pollution is a growing problem − one lab is looking at tiny insects as inspiration for how these pollutants might move through water.

Andrew Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee • conversation
Jan. 22, 2024 • ~5 min

Otters, beavers and other semiaquatic mammals keep clean underwater, thanks to their flexible fur

The bottoms of boats and docks can accumulate lots of dirt, but semiaquatic animals like otters avoid having ‘fouled’ fur. Their secret could one day help keep underwater infrastructure clean.

Andrew Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee • conversation
Jan. 11, 2024 • ~4 min

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.

Yizeng Li, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
Jan. 9, 2023 • ~7 min

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.

Patrick Traynor, Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida • conversation
Sept. 20, 2022 • ~6 min

Expert in fluid dynamics explains how to reduce the risk of COVID-19 airborne transmission inside a car

Keeping windows open while driving at a moderate speed can increase airflow inside the cabin of the car, but which ones should you keep open?

Varghese Mathai, Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Massachusetts Amherst • conversation
Jan. 27, 2021 • ~4 min

Aerosols are a bigger coronavirus threat than WHO guidelines suggest – here's what you need to know

More than 200 scientists wrote to the WHO, warning about aerosol transmission of the coronavirus. The WHO has since acknowledged the evidence but hasn't change its advice yet.

Goodarz Ahmadi, Professor of mechanical engineering, Clarkson University • conversation
July 9, 2020 • ~9 min

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