Soap Film Ripples
January 28, 2010—Ripples in soap film mimic the flow of air from a hand-held fan in an award-winning image from the American Physical Society's (APS) most recent Gallery of Fluid Motion.
To create the image, a team at the Technical University of Denmark flapped a rigid foil over soap film, creating a breeze that made the film flow into a "beautiful butterfly shape," according to the scientists. (Related pictures: "Best Microscopic-Life Images of 2009 Named.")
Each year the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics sets up the Gallery of Fluid Motion exhibit at its annual meeting. The exhibit displays "stunning graphics and videos from computational or experimental studies showing flow phenomena," according to the APS Web site. A panel of referees then selects the most outstanding entries for their artistic content, originality, and ability to convey information. The winners are published in the journal Physics of Fluids.
The above image, along with four other winners, was on display at the Minneapolis Convention Center from November 22 to 24, 2009.
Best Fluid Motion Pictures Named
The "breeze" from a fan, an upside-down "wine glass," and a virtual "river valley" are among five winning pictures from the American Physical Society's annual gallery of fluids in motion.
