fluid-dynamics

I know that if there was a way to compress and control air (think air bender) then it can be used to remove friction between two surfaces. A person could just skate on their feet by focusing this compressed air between their feet and ground (kind of like an ice bender creating ice floor to skate). I want to understand though, what underlying physics makes this possible? I'm guessing it is a combi…

HydroGym offers over 60 standardized reinforcement-learning flow-control environments and demonstrates zero-shot transfer to a 3D wing, cutting local skin friction by 38% and exploration costs by four orders of magnitude.

We formulate the complete C1 boundary-value matching problem for non-singular anisotropic matter interiors that can excise the naked ring singularity and the compact closed-timelike-curve torus of the hyperextreme Kerr vortex. Paper 1 showed that a hollow Z2 mirror shell requires negative surface energy density. Here we drop mirror symmetry and write the full asymmetric Israel junction conditions…

So say I've got a pipe, and it's got some kind of an internal pressure. Now, it's completely enclosed, so atmospheric pressure cannot affect it. Then, if I wanted to measure the pipe's pressure by drilling a hole and attaching a piezometric tube, like in the picture, wouldn't I be providing an entrance to the atmospheric pressure, and thus the pressure inside the pipe would increase accordingly, …

Nature Communications, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76793-w Researchers demonstrate that weakening cell-cell adhesion increases epithelial tissue fluidity without altering cell shape, revealing that dissipative mechanics are a previously unrecognized factor controlling collective tissue behavior.

A mechanical engineer explains why you need to go with the flow. The TSA pronouncement that peanut butter is a liquid is scientifically sound.

Taking inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of friction, the ‘sneaker squeak’ question cuts to a deep problem in physics.

An avalanche during a storm in the Sierra Nevada killed at least eight skiers on a guided backcountry excursion.

Nature, Published online: 19 August 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02375-x The HydroGym computational environment teaches agents strategies for fluid-flow control that can be applied to scenarios they have not encountered before.

Nature, Published online: 19 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10917-6 HydroGym offers over 60 standardized reinforcement-learning flow-control environments and demonstrates zero-shot transfer to a 3D wing, cutting local skin friction by 38% and exploration costs by four orders of magnitude.

Is it possible to build a partially regenerative space propulsion system in which ionized propellant is magnetically redirected, allowing part of its energy and momentum to be recovered while keeping ...

A physics mystery hiding in plain sight: the downward-streaming bubbles in Guinness obey the laws of fluid dynamics, not the laws of human perception.

Most scientific research into snoring is aimed at treating sleep apnea, but snoring not caused by sleep apnea can still be debilitating. In Physics of Fluids, researchers developed a 3D model of the upper airway, complete with dynamic airflows, soft tissues, and sound generation, with the goal of understanding how these elements are related.

The maximal speed at which information travels within certain complex systems is now rigorously bounded below by the value of $\sqrt{3/23}$. This calculation confirms a previously extrapolated estimate for a specific cellular automaton, suggesting a complete understanding of its energy propagation. These findings illuminate the fundamental limits of information flow in minimal, interacting system…

From the 1800s to the early 2000s, physicists used the same theory to understand the behavior of fluids. Now, using a modern insight, they have redefined fluids from the bottom up.