Pedro Sáenz, a professor of applied mathematics at UNC, led the research team who proved that bubbles don’t just rise but move sideways, which Sáenz poetically described as “galloping.” In the article, there were other intriguing phrases, like “resonant interaction” and “shape oscillation modes,” yet let us wonder at the paradox of galloping bubbles.
Horses gallop with all four feet in the air. This is their maximum speed, often described as “furious.” Galloping is powerful and purposeful. Zebras and cheetahs gallop at life-or-death stakes.
And bubbles? The slightest breeze propels them in a dainty and directionless manner. They float lazily.
The UNC research team believes that the dynamics of a galloping bubble could have an impact on space exploration. The world is more amazing than it seems. Apparent contradictions are actually true, as the slightest, smallest details relate to the largest forces.
I leave the math to the experts, but I know that words matter because they create worldviews and sometimes worlds. Bubbles gallop. What else is possible? Consider this the next spring afternoon as children romp across the grass and chase the bubbles that gallop in the sunshine.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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