Podcast 89: Can a cat be both a solid and a liquid? (The Deborah Number)

Can a cat be both a solid and a liquid? A physics paper explores this question, using a special number called the “Deborah number”. We explore that physics paper, in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams  teams up with fluid dynamicist Nicole Sharp, creator of FYFD, the […]

Jogging on / kitchen-sinking into muck

In this video for New Scientist, Chris Chiswell jogs on the non-Newtonian fluid known as cornstarch-mixed-with-water, until he stops jogging and sinks into it, demonstrating the non-Newtonianness of the muck. The ingredients of the goo—cornstarch and water—are commonly found in kitchens, thus this demonstration shows an example of kitchen sinking. (Thanks to investigator Alicia Weston […]