"Turbulence" by
Charles Baroud
Turbulent
flows are omnipresent in nature, for example in the flow of water
in the Seine or the flow of air above a Sannine. These images
are taken from a laboratory experiment that studies the effect
of rotation on the complicated motion of fluids. For instance,
we would like to understand the effect of the earth's rotation
on the motion of the atmosphere or the ocean. More information
on this experiment and related experiments can be found at the Center
for Nonlinear Dynamics.
As
is often the case in science, the answer that the experiment
yields depends on the question that is asked. The same experiment
can give many different answers; it is the scientist's role to
ask the good questions in order to gain an understanding of nature.
These images show different ways to look at the same data, each
of which outlining different features of the flow.
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