#fluid dynamic

[juxtapropos]

Betsiboka River Delta in Madagascar & cardiac muscle fiber

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Designer Eleanor Lutz used high-speed video of five different flying species to create this graphic illustrating the curves swept out in their wingbeats. The curves are constructed from 15 points per wingbeat and are intended more as art than science, but they're a fantastic visualization of several important concepts in flapping flight. For example, note the directionality of the curves as a whole. If you imagine a vector perpendicular to the wing curves, you'll notice that the bat, goose, and dragonfly would all have vectors pointing forward and slightly upward. In contrast, the moth and hummingbird would have vectors pointing almost entirely upward. This is because the moth and hummingbird are hovering, so their wing strokes are oriented so that the force produced balances their weight. The bat, goose, and dragonfly are all engaged in forward flight, so the aerodynamic force they generate is directed to counter their weight and to provide thrust. (Image credit: E. Lutz; via io9)

[v1-rotate-v2-blog]

Ferrari 458 Speciale - Focus on aerodynamics (by ferrariworld)

[spectralspeech]

First off, I must say that I am in love with this log as a whole, Synaptic Stimuli.  But this post in particular is kind of amazing to me.  I have always been fascinated by microscopic photography, and photographer, Janet Waters really does take it to lovely sculptural dimension.