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 […]
In this video for New Scientist, Chris Chiswell jogs on the non-Newtonian fluid known as cornstarch-mixed-with-water, until he stops jogging and sinks into it, demonstrating the non-Newtonianness of the muck. The ingredients of the goo—cornstarch and water—are commonly found in kitchens, thus this demonstration shows an example of kitchen sinking. (Thanks to investigator Alicia Weston […]
