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We present an experimental study of the motion of a solid sphere falling through a wormlike micellar fluid. While smaller or lighter spheres quickly reach a terminal velocity, larger or heavier spheres are found to oscillate in the…
We study experimentally the dynamics of a water droplet on a tilted and vertically oscillating rigid fibre. As we vary the frequency and amplitude of the oscillations the droplet transitions between different modes: harmonic pumping,…
We study the dynamics of a spherical steel ball falling freely through a solution of entangled wormlike-micelles. If the sphere diameter is larger than a threshold value, the settling velocity shows repeated short oscillatory bursts…
We develop a mathematical model to capture the web dynamics of slingshot spiders (Araneae: Theridiosomatidae), which utilize a tension line to deform their orb webs into conical springs to hunt flying insects. Slingshot spiders are…
Self-oscillating gels are chemically-responsive hydrogels coupled to an oscillating chemical reaction of a stimulus solute. In response to the oscillating solute concentration field, responsive gels periodically swell and deswell, expelling…
When a volatile droplet is deposited on a floating swellable sheet, it becomes asymmetric, lobed and mobile. We describe and quantify this phenomena that involves nonequilibrium swelling, evaporation and motion, working together to realize…
Deformed droplets are ubiquitous in various industrial applications, such as inkjet printing, lab-on-a-chip devices, and spray cooling, and can fundamentally affect the involved applications both favorably and unfavorably. Here, we employ…
Sensing the flow of water or air disturbance is critical for the survival of many animals: flow information helps them localize food, mates, and prey and to escape predators. Across species, many flow sensors take the form of long, flexible…
A liquid droplet hovering on a hot surface is commonly referred to as a Leidenfrost droplet. In this study, we discover that a Leidenfrost droplet involuntarily performs a series of distinct oscillations as it shrinks during the span of its…
This experimental study investigates the effects of viscosity contrast between a saltwater jet and its high-viscosity propylene glycol surroundings. Using density-matched fluids in a gravity-driven flow, Jet Reynolds numbers (Re) from 1600…
Soft corals, such as the bipinnate sea plume Antillogorgia bipinnata, are colony building animals that feed by catching food particles brought by currents. Because of their flexible skeleton, they bend and sway back and forth with the wave…
The surface tension of partially wetting droplets deforms soft substrates. These deformations are usually localized to a narrow region near the contact line, forming a so-called `elastocapillary ridge.' When a droplet slides along a…
Previous observations of the nontransient oscillations of rising bubbles and falling spheres in wormlike micellar fluids were limited to a single surfactant system. We present an extensive survey of rising bubbles in another system, an…
Compared with fixed-wing flight, flapping flight can generate a higher lift and is also more maneuverable, largely resulting from the benefits of wing rotation. By analyzing the real wing kinematics of fruit flies, we found that the wing…
Understanding mosquitoes life cycle is of great interest presently because of the increasing impact of vector borne diseases in several countries. There is evidence of oscillations in mosquito populations independent of seasonality, still…
Insects use flight muscles attached at the base of the wings to produce impressive wing flapping frequencies. The maximum power output of these flight muscles is insufficient to maintain such wing oscillations unless there is good elastic…
We present and analyze a minimal hydrodynamic model of a vertically vibrated liquid drop that undergoes dynamic shape transformations. In agreement with experiments, a circular lens-shaped drop is unstable above a critical vibration…
Plant sap-feeding insects must dispose of excess fluid, yet at millimeter scales droplet release is constrained by capillary adhesion and contact-line pinning. How phloem-feeding insects solve this puzzle, particularly as the excretory…
Anisotropically wetting substrates enable useful control of droplet behavior across a range of applications. Usually, these involve chemically or physically patterning the substrate surface, or applying gradients in properties like…
The behaviour of semi-dilute wormlike micelle solutions under vertical vibrations is investigated using classical measurements of the Faraday instability threshold along with two new experiments based on particle imaging velocimetry and…