Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

SOFT MATTER

Making waves without inertia

Nature Reviews Physics volume 3, page 74 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

When a shallow film of water flows down a slope it often spontaneously forms ripples, such as those seen on hilly streets during heavy rain (pictured). Such ripples have been studied since at least the 1940s, and it is well-understood that they form because of inertia in the fluid. Intuitively, highly viscous fluids, in which inertial effects are negligible, should not behave the same way. However, writing in Communications Physics, Baptiste Darbois Texier and colleagues report that water thickened with cornstarch forms ripples that look just like those in pure water — but via a completely different mechanism.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

Original article

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Reviews Physics https://www.nature.com/natrevphys/

    Zoe Budrikis

Authors
  1. Zoe Budrikis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zoe Budrikis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Budrikis, Z. Making waves without inertia. Nat Rev Phys 3, 74 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-00277-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-00277-z

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing