Podcast: Fluids and Flocks

Birds often travel in flocks, and fish in schools -- but can physics help us understand why? Image Credit: Becker, A.D. et al. From a fluid dynamics perspective, there are actually a few very good reasons.  On today's podcast, we catch up with Dr. Hassan Masoud, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, and co-author of a recent paper on the subject.  Armed with a circular tank containing flappable "wings" (right), computer simulations, ...