Penguin Propulsion: The Physics Behind the World’s Fastest Swimming Birds

In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop a model to explore the forces and flow structures created by penguin wings underwater. Penguin can adjust swimming posture by active wing feathering, pitching, and flapping and their dense, short feathers can also lock air between the skin and water to reduce friction and turbulence. The hydrodynamic model takes in information about the flapping and feathering of the wings and, using the immersed boundary method, solves for the motion of the wing and the thrust, lift, and lateral forces.

Want Better Kimchi? Make It Like the Ancients Did

In a combined experimental and theoretical study, Georgia Tech researchers measured carbon dioxide levels in onggi during kimchi fermentation and developed a mathematical model to show how the gas was generated and moved through the onggi’s porous walls. By bringing the study of fluid mechanics to bear on an ancient technology, their research highlights the work of artisans and provides the missing link for how the traditional earthenware allows for high quality kimchi.

At Home, Do-It-Yourself Fluid Mechanics

In Physics of Fluids, scientists describe their work on an at-home study of rheology, which is used to study the way non-Newtonian liquids or semisolid substances flow. The projects assigned to students had two parts: gathering qualitative visual evidence of rheological properties and taking quantitative measurements. The students checked for four behaviors – shear thinning viscosity, viscoelasticity, shear normal stress difference, and extensional viscosity – and even without access to laboratory rheometers, they developed creative and unique ways to carry out their measurements.