Fun with flows

The first glimpse of pipes in the Hydrodynamics Laboratory at Imperial College had me reaching for the camera (and I would happily have spent hours with a sketchbook and the pipes). But more and better was to come.

The paddles are sequenced to set up various kinds of waves

Waves can travel quite some distance in this tank

Computers are a very important part of the equipment
- the calculations are extremely complex

Students were on hand to explain things I'd never even thought about

A nod to health&safety

Nice crisp combinations of colours - and the contrasting
subtlety of the water

The effect of water on coasts can be simulated and modelled

Tracers simulate the flows caused by adding pollutants

The Inaugural Lecture that we came to hear - Fun with Flows: the fluid science of healthy environments, given by Graham Hughes, was anything but dull: both the speaker and the graphics were great. And afterward: wine and canapes!