Schlieren imaging is a fairly standard optical technique for visualizing heat, sound, or pressure differences in air. Technically, a schlieren system is able to see clear disturbances in air due to slight differences in the speed of light in the air. The technique can be sensitive enough to see the heat rising off a human hand at room temperature.
Have you ever wondered what a gale-force sneeze would look like if you could see air currents, temperature gradients, and differences in pressure and composition of the air? Or, less disgustingly, the strike of a match? This fascinating 6-minute video demonstrates Schlieren photography, which makes the invisible visible.
Schlieren flow visualization and photography is one of those things that is just too cool. Using an optical trick, it allows a camera to capture, "small changes in the index of refraction in air." In other words, it can see anything that affects airflow: heat, sound waves, or just plain old air currents themselves.
And the video above, uploaded at the beginning of this year by the Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations YouTube channel, is one of the most fascinating demonstrations of Schlieren optics we've ever seen.
Schlieren Flow Visualization is a rather fascinating technique by which you can see and capture the differences in air pressure caused by various forces such as sound or heat.
And if the video we shared recently explaining/showing off this photographic trick had you yearning to try it for yourself, you're in luck, because there's a way you can create your own DIY Schlieren Flow setup for only $9.
If you're looking for a fun and educational project to try this weekend, Israeli DIY-er Elad Orbach has come up with the cheapest, most simple Schlieren photography setup we've ever seen. Unlike more expensive setups, his creation will let you photograph heat and sound waves using just a smartphone, a mirror, and a selfie stick.
With a supply crunch in medical-grade facemasks, the general public has been turning to homemade masks in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Now researchers are using lasers to reveal how effective different kinds of DIY masks are at blocking tiny droplets from coughs and sneezes.
Advanced imaging company LaVision has released a new video that shows just how effective a face mask can be at preventing the spread of infections like COVID-19. The video lends visual support to the CDC's recent recommendation that everyone wear a mask in any situation where it is difficult to maintain social distance.
NASA has captured the first-ever photos showing the shockwaves of supersonic jets interacting in flight. The beautiful images were captured in an extremely difficult air-to-air photo shoot.
Here's a 6-minute video by photographer Kelly Hofer of Theory of Curiosity on Background Oriented Schlieren (BOS), a technique that lets you shoot photos and videos of heat using an ordinary camera and Photoshop.
Standard schlieren imaging techniques use a large mirror to be able to visualize heat or pressure differences in air. The problem with these techniques is that they require large precision telescope mirrors that are very expensive. My lab is fortunate to have a 13-inch diameter telescope mirror; but what happens when I need to photograph a larger subject?
Capturing the supersonic shockwaves of a fighter jet going faster than the speed of sound might seem like science fiction, but NASA actually captured this phenomenon on camera. Not only that, they did it by using a 150-year-old German photography technique.
NPR just released a fascinating video that does a fantastic job of explaining something called Schlieren Flow Visualization or …
Researchers at a California company specializing in high-speed imaging equipment have developed a camera add-on capable of freezing objects traveling at up to 7,500 miles per hour -- that's almost 10 times the speed of sound.