fluid dynamics

A study published in Nature reports that fully developed active turbulence can be characterised through a non-equilibrium phase transition, providing a framework for when chaotic flows in active matter become fully turbulent. The finding connects active turbulence research with phase transition physics, a step researchers say could help model systems from bacterial suspensions to fluid dynamics.

Explanations are circulating of how the Magnus effect works in soccer: when a spinning ball curves in flight because pressure differences form on either side of it. The principle helps explain why free kicks and corner kicks bend unexpectedly, and why players like those famous for curling shots can beat goalkeepers. The topic is a staple of physics education, using a familiar sport to illustrate fluid dynamics and forces in motion.

Researchers with the American Physical Society report generating water waves that arrange themselves into quasicrystalline patterns — ordered structures that never repeat, previously seen mainly in certain alloys and crystals. The work extends quasicrystal physics to fluid dynamics, offering a new way to study these unusual symmetries in a tabletop experiment. Physicists are highlighting it as a striking demonstration of exotic order in an everyday medium.