This drawing by artist Becky Moon celebrates the 2017 Ig Nobel Physics Prize, which was awarded to Marc-Antoine Fardin, for using fluid dynamics to probe the question “Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?” He documented that research, in the paper “On the Rheology of Cats,” Marc-Antoine Fardin, Rheology Bulletin, vol. 83, no. 2, […]
Can a cat be both a solid and a liquid? A physics paper explores this question, using a special number called the “Deborah number”. We explore that physics paper, in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams teams up with fluid dynamicist Nicole Sharp, creator of FYFD, the […]
At first glance, snow globes might seem trite or trivial objects, however : “[…] on closer reflection, they are revealed to be symbolic realms that provide clues to the desires, dreams, nightmares, and memories of the cultures that produce them.” – explains professor Lindsey Freeman, a sociologist who teaches, writes, and thinks about cities, memory, […]
Tea, when brewed and poured, is a liquid perfectly suited to filling otherwise empty space on a news site. It exactly fills whatever quantity and shape of space needs filling. Here’s an example, from the BBC news web site. The headline, as you can see, says: “Male tea drinkers ‘at greater risk of prostate cancer‘”: […]
