Bioconvection

Convection isn’t always driven by temperature. Here, researchers explore the convective patterns formed by Thiovulum bacteria. These bacteria are negatively buoyant, meaning they will sink if they aren’t swimming. They also have an asymmetric moment of inertia, so any flow moving past them tends to affect their swimming direction.

When let loose in a Hele-Shaw cell with a oxygen levels that decrease with depth, the bacteria create complex convection-like patterns. They swim slowly upward in wide, slow plumes and sink in denser, narrow plumes. In other areas, they form large-scale rotating vortices. (Video and image credit: O. Kodio et al.)

Aging Salty Ice

When ice forms in salty water, it starts out mushy and porous. Salt does not freeze neatly into ice’s crystalline structure, so the forming ice has pores and gaps where salty brine gathers. As the ice ages, more brine is pushed out and gradually convects downward, due to its greater density. Over time, this makes the ice layer thinner but more solid, with fewer pores. You can see a timelapse of the process in a laboratory experiment below. (Image credit: sea ice – C. Matias, experiment – F. Wang et al.; research credit: F. Wang et al.)

Inside Cepheid Variable Stars

Cepheid variable stars pulsate in brightness over regular periods. That’s one reason astronomers use them as a standard candle to judge distances–even for stars well outside our galaxy. In this image, researchers display a simulation of convection inside a Cepheid eight times more massive than our sun. The colors represent vorticity, with zero vorticity in white.(Image credit: M. Stuck and J. Pratt)

Jupiter in a Lab

The vivid bands of a gas giant like Jupiter come from the planet’s combination of rotation and convection. It’s possible to create the same effect in a lab by rapidly spinning a tank of water around a central ice core. That’s the physical set-up behind this research poster–note the illustration in the lower right corner. The central snapshots show how temperature gradients on the water surface change the faster the tank rotates. At higher rotational speeds, the parabolic water surface gets ever steeper and Jupiter-like temperature bands form. (Image credit: C. David et al.)

Mesoscale Discussion 2145 (not yet posted), but that includes #SanLuisObispoCounty #SantaBarbaraCounty #VenturaCounty

Will be here, soon:
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/2025/md2145.html

#CAwx #rain #convection

We will be hosting the 10th International #Conference on Rayleigh-Bénard #Turbulence in #Lyon (1-5 June 2026) !
Abstract submissions are now opened.

The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers from different fields to explore the latest advancements in high Rayleigh number #convection. A full day will review critical connections between #turbulent #thermal #convection and #geophysical processes.

More information on https://rbc2026.sciencesconf.org

#science

“Vorticity 6”

It’s time for another storm-chasing timelapse from photographer Mike Olbinski! “Vorticity 6” focuses on supercell thunderstorms and their tornadoes. There’s billowing turbulent convection, undulating asperitas, bulging mammatus, microbursts, and more. There’s nothing like timelapse to highlight the growth, rotation, and shear involved in these storms. (Video and image credit: M. Olbinski)

#asperitas #cloudFormation #clouds #convection #fluidDynamics #fluidsAsArt #mammatus #physics #science #thunderstorm #turbulence

Surrounded by overmature (and one developing?) thunderstorms this morning. I love #Florida summers.

#FLwx
#convection
#tropics
#Florida
#thunderstorms
#wx
#weather

Cloud Convection on Titan

Saturn’s moon Titan is a fascinating mirror to our own planet. It’s the only other planetary body with surface-level liquid lakes and seas, but instead of water, Titan’s are made of frigid ethane and methane. Like Earth, Titan has a weather cycle that includes evaporation, condensation, and rain. And now scientists have made their first observations of clouds convecting in Titan’s northern hemisphere.

Using data from both the Keck Observatory and JWST, the team tracked clouds on Titan rising to higher altitudes, a critical step in the planet’s methane cycle. This translation took place over a period of days, giving scientists modeling the Saturnian moon new insight into the seasonal behaviors of Titan’s atmosphere. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; research credit: C. Nixon et al.; via Gizmodo)

#atmosphericScience #clouds #convection #fluidDynamics #physics #planetaryScience #science #Titan