Scale model of a futuristic hybrid wing body during testing
I want to share a past NASA Image for the Day titled Glow with the Flow. This was sent to me by one of my wonderful shareholders, Barbara Renzi, and I wanted to post it earlier, but the site was unavailable during the government shutdown. Anyway, Barbara comments that it’s a “beautiful image but the vortices show they have more work to do!” (Smart woman, that Barbara!)
The reason Barbara thought I’d be interested in this is that it’s very similar the work we do at PAX Scientific—studying the vortices on boat and airplane surfaces, fan blades, turbines, and other surfaces that move fluids or move through fluids. Our team of engineers investigate problems—in particular, increased friction and drag, which results in greater energy use, noise, and damage—to better understand how using naturally-derived geometries can improve these and other human technologies.
