Science Can’t Figure Out Why Some Liquids Flow

Scientists are still trying to understand why not all liquids flow in the same way. One recent study dove into the complexities of pusher fluids used for extracting oil and solved a decades-old mystery. » Subscribe to Seeker! » Watch more Elements! Fluids are a necessary part of day to day life. After all, without water you couldn’t live, and without chocolate syrup, well, what would be the point? But have you ever noticed that not all liquids behave the same? In fact, some of them do some totally bewildering stuff under the right circumstances, and even after decades of research scientists are no closer to understanding why. One question about strange fluids may have finally been answered thanks to some glass beads and laser beams. All liquids that we encounter in the real world can be boiled down to one of two kinds. They’re either Newtonian, or non-Newtonian. Newtonian fluids are pretty easy to grasp. We