Topic
Turbulence research, explained
4 open-access turbulence studies, each with a flashcard deck and a quiz.
- Do plankton chains swim upward better through turbulent water?
Although chains of plankton cells are less stable than single cells, their long shape lets them stay pointed upward and ride upward-moving water, so in weak turbulence they migrate much faster.
- Can we infer temperature in turbulent convection from velocity alone?
By forcing a neural network to obey the equations of fluid flow and heat transport, the authors recovered the temperature field of a real turbulent convection experiment from velocity measurements alone to within about 4%.
- Does solar-wind turbulence change character at small scales?
Magnetic turbulence in the solar wind is intermittent and multifractal at large (MHD) scales but becomes simpler, monofractal fluctuations at small kinetic scales, with a sharp break between the regimes.
- How does turbulence break into stripes in a channel flow?
As a channel flow slows toward laminar, turbulence organizes into tilted stripes whose angle stays near 25 degrees before the pattern breaks up, while the friction coefficient stays roughly constant.