Turbulence as a research area investigates the physics, modeling, and prediction of highly irregular, vortical fluid motion characterized by strong nonlinearity, multiscale interactions, and enhanced mixing and dissipation. It encompasses theoretical analysis of the Navier–Stokes equations, development of turbulence closures and reduced-order models, and statistical descriptions such as energy spectra and intermittency. The field spans direct numerical simulations, large-eddy and Reynolds-averaged approaches, and experimental diagnostics to study transition to turbulence, coherent structures, and cascade processes in gases and liquids, with applications ranging from aerodynamics and geophysical and astrophysical flows to engineering systems, combustion, and environmental fluid mechanics.
A new study led by surfing scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego revealed the physical relationships underlying a pattern familiar to generations of surfers.
Soft Matter
Sep 3, 2026
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8
Inside a lab at the University of Texas at Dallas, researchers have re-created a small-scale ocean environment where they can make waves build, break and crash into one another.
Earth Sciences
Sep 2, 2026
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Since we cannot look into the interiors of stars and planets, we rely on lab experiments to replicate the physical processes that occur there. Led by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an international research ...
Astronomy
Aug 26, 2026
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22
Logically, you would think a sleek surface has optimal aerodynamics—but recent research at Tohoku University turns this fundamental principle on its head. Applying an irregular microscale surface texture reduced the aerodynamic ...
General Physics
Jul 22, 2026
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Whether the dust borne on the violent winds of a tornado or the sugar grains in a swirled cup of coffee, the behavior of particles carried along in turbulence is subject to some similarities—all of them difficult to predict ...
General Physics
May 26, 2026
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19
Dolphins are famous for their speed and agility in the water, but what exactly allows them to swim so effectively? Scientists have been asking this question for years, hoping to learn how to optimize propulsion in fluids ...
Soft Matter
Apr 27, 2026
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55
In his doctoral thesis, Michael Roop develops numerical methods that allow finding physically reliable approximate solutions to nonlinear differential equations used to model turbulence.
General Physics
Apr 16, 2026
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In a tank on the bottom floor of a University of Chicago research laboratory, scientists summon "The Blob" into existence by firing water jets to create an artfully choreographed series of rings.
General Physics
Apr 14, 2026
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With a new lab-based experiment, researchers in the UK and France have recreated the characteristic cascades of energy and angular momentum that underpin key features of Earth's atmosphere. Reporting in Physical Review Letters, ...
A fascination with fish gills has led researchers at Cornell to develop a bio-inspired approach to mixing heat and molecules in fluids—findings that could inform future biomedical devices, heat exchangers and soft robotics.
General Physics
Mar 24, 2026
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