Testing Structures Against Hurricane Storm Surge

When hurricanes hit coasts, they bring with them incredible storm surge, which puts buildings right in the middle of ocean waves. To understand how to better protect against those conditions, engineers use facilities like the Directional Wave Basin to create smaller-scale versions of hurricanes. In this Practical Engineering video, Grady visited during a test that compared two identical one-third-scale houses subjected to the same storm conditions–except that one house had an additional foot (3ft at real-scale) of elevation. The results are pretty spectacular.

This isn’t a short video, but it’s well-worth a watch. I think Grady does a great job of explaining why engineers need (admittedly) expensive facilities like this one to help guide both engineering and regulatory decisions. (Video and image credit: Practical Engineering)

Radiant Waves

Photographer Kevin Krautgartner captures the powerful waves of Western Australia from above. His latest series, Waves | Ocean Forces, features luminous turquoise waves, crystalline foam, and brilliant beaches. I could delight in staring at them for hours. Fortunately, he sells prints on his website! (Image credit: K. Krautgartner; via Colossal)

I recently watched Ocean Waves and it's a great film! A bit different from other Ghibli films because of its smaller scale and focus, but still just as good as the rest!

See my full thoughts on my blog! https://jacobsjapaneseblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/ocean-waves-%e6%b5%b7%e3%81%8c%e3%81%8d%e3%81%93%e3%81%88%e3%82%8b/
#oceanwaves #studioghibli #anime #film #movie

A Rough Day

Winds from the north made for wild conditions at Nazaré in Portugal. Photographer Ben Thouard caught these crashing waves in the late afternoon, when the low sun angle illuminated the spray of the surf. Every year teratons of salt and biomass move from the ocean to the atmosphere, much of it through turbulent wave action driven by the wind. Here, the wind rips droplets off of wave crests, but smaller droplets reach the atmosphere when bubbles–trapped underwater by crashing waves–reach the surface and burst. (Image credit: B. Thouard/OPOTY; via Colossal)

#fluidDynamics #fluidsAsArt #ocean #oceanWaves #physics #science #turbulence