There’s a common popular science demonstration involving “soap boats,” in which liquid soap poured onto the surface of water creates a propulsive flow driven by gradients in surface tension. But it ...

How many ants does it take to build a raft? This sounds like a riddle, and in a way, it is. Scientists whose interests in insects and fluid mechanics intersect have been wondering how fire ants stick ...

Ever watch what happens to the last bunch of Cheerios left floating in your breakfast bowl? The oat rings tend to cluster on the milk’s surface as if they had a magnetic attraction. Known as the ...

Fire ants might be the scourge of southern states like Georgia and Texas, but scientifically, they are endlessly fascinating as an example of collective behavior. A few fire ants spaced well apart ...

The same phenomena that let beetles float across ponds and cause Cheerios to cluster together in your cereal bowl can be harnessed to make tiny floating robots. One of these, the Marangoni effect, ...

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment. Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the ...

Have you ever noticed how your last little bits of cereal tend to stick together, or to the sides of the bowl? This week, we’re taking a closer look at -- and this is the published name for it -- the ...