In our February issue, Scientific American had an article on the phenomenon of liquid-rope coiling--the way that viscous fluids curl as they fall onto a surface, forming what looks like a miniature basket.
In our February issue, Scientific American had an article on the phenomenon of liquid-rope coiling–the way that viscous fluids curl as they fall onto a surface, forming what looks like a miniature basket. Dribbling honey onto toast is a classic example (not to mention a great way to liven up your breakfast with physics experiments). Now reader Brian Parker of Dartmouth, England, sends us these remarkable photographs of ice spirals, which appear to be a related phenomenon. The spirals emanate from holes near the top of hollow tube stanchions on a metal staircase at a sports field.
Photographs courtesy of Brian Parker
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
George Musser is a contributing editor at Scientific American and author of Spooky Action at a Distance (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015) and The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory (Alpha, 2008). Follow him on Mastodon @gmusser@mastodon.social and Bluesky @gmusser.bsky.social Credit: Nick Higgins
