[HN Gopher] When Water Flows Uphill [video]
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       When Water Flows Uphill [video]
        
       Author : ColinWright
       Score  : 228 points
       Date   : 2024-06-11 10:33 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | theogravity wrote:
       | The water ball maze at the end is really cool.
        
         | bcraven wrote:
         | It's technically a labyrinth rather than a maze as there's a
         | single path.
        
           | ARandomerDude wrote:
           | It just needs a Minotaur.
        
       | m_st wrote:
       | Barely related, but in Bern Gerechtigkeitsgasse they made an
       | almost hidden art installation so that the Stadtbach (city
       | stream) flows uphill in a small part. It's very fun to watch.
       | 
       | https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadtbach_(Aare)
        
         | mavhc wrote:
         | How does it work?
        
           | wumms wrote:
           | "The city stream is redirected in an underground, invisible
           | loop so that it flows backward, or upstream, for a short
           | distance. However, the backflow is always just outflow in
           | reality. This is because the watercourse has a continuous
           | gradient." (translated from a Google result excerpt of this
           | paywalled article [0])
           | 
           | [0] https://www.derbund.ch/warum-der-stadtbach-aufwaerts-
           | fliesst...)
        
             | tomthe wrote:
             | Yes, that seems to be the explanation. I found a few
             | pictures here: https://www.komoot.com/de-
             | de/highlight/615007 but they also do not show how it works.
        
       | dools wrote:
       | I remember watching those little droplets form and bonce arond on
       | the old solid stove tops we had when I was a kid, I loved it!
        
       | tomw1808 wrote:
       | I remember watching that video. About 10 years ago. Fascinating
       | then, fascinating now.
        
       | Karellen wrote:
       | "The difference between science and screwing around is writing it
       | down"
       | 
       | -- Adam Savage
        
         | eleveriven wrote:
         | The importance of documentation
        
       | m-i-l wrote:
       | Throughout the video I was wondering what possible practical
       | applications there could be. I got it at the end: "we use this
       | effect to engage people who are otherwise not so interested in
       | science".
        
         | mistermann wrote:
         | I wonder if this could be used as the opening scene of a
         | persuasive documentary on vaccines, it's pretty mesmerizing.
         | Maybe an innocuous "How does it work?" theme with 10 phenomena,
         | with one of them being vaccines.
        
           | mdp2021 wrote:
           | It is still best to help the ignorant leading it to not being
           | mesmerized.
        
             | mistermann wrote:
             | When it comes to vaccines in a comprehensive scope, I
             | suspect there is no Human that is not at least somewhat
             | ignorant (or not all knowing), and delusional to at least
             | some degree. The "science" aspect is but one part of a much
             | more complex picture.
        
               | mdp2021 wrote:
               | So let us have awareness campaigns, and make them
               | unassailable by being perfectly honest - instead of
               | furthering attempted manipulation ("mesmerizing people
               | for persuasiveness through innocuous documentaries about
               | the wonderful") as if it were aproblematic behaviour, and
               | as if normal actually-adults would not be consequently
               | exposed to dubious campaigns, with dubious results.
               | 
               | I do not know about many places around the world, but in
               | some areas it is normally told to children in primary
               | school that "well, before these milestones you had an
               | important risk of measles or poliomyelitis" - just as
               | part of the history of science and achievements, primary
               | school level. Which again suggests that treating people
               | like adults - even very "underage" - remains an important
               | recipe to obtain, in the end, Adults.
        
         | theginger wrote:
         | Could be used to win bets for free drinks in a bar, shame you'd
         | probably get kicked out for wielding dangerously hot metal
         | plates before you've had a chance to drink them.
        
           | actionfromafar wrote:
           | Never a good idea to drink hot metal plates
        
         | foobarbecue wrote:
         | Earlier in the video they say it could be used to cool
         | microchips.
        
           | kube-system wrote:
           | Seems like a stretch... the examples in the video were around
           | 400-500F
        
         | doublerabbit wrote:
         | If we somehow ended up extinguishing gravity and we start
         | floating upside down. Good to know we can now post water
         | upwards.
         | 
         | Although thinking about it, water would float upwards too..
        
       | HPsquared wrote:
       | Heat engines are cool. (These are an example of a heat engine:
       | something that converts thermal energy into mechanical work)
        
       | nojs wrote:
       | If you like watching water flowing uphill, I highly recommend
       | paying this spot in Taiwan a visit [1]. It's a very clever and
       | convincing optical illusion.
       | 
       | 1. https://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002016&id=A12-00284
        
       | calebm wrote:
       | Water flows uphill all the time - all you need is an Eddy
       | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_(fluid_dynamics))
        
         | kurthr wrote:
         | I was just going to say, go to the beach. It's wind rather than
         | steam providing the motion, but similar.
         | 
         | Watch the waves roll up the sand slope!
        
         | unnah wrote:
         | The practical way to get water to flow uphill is of course the
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon - always amazing in its
         | own way.
        
       | TheRealPomax wrote:
       | If you enjoy this bit of physics, and you're wondering if water
       | flowing the "wrong direction" is something that happens in real
       | life, aside from the other comments about wind-induced
       | counterflow, definitely look up the Severn bore[1], too, which is
       | a tidal bore that makes the river Severn flow inland twice a day,
       | with wave fronts that can be large enough for folks to "surf
       | upstream".
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_bore
        
       | krunck wrote:
       | The title should include that it is from 2013.
        
       | alamortsubite wrote:
       | The grooves at ~2:56 [1] are a result of the machining process?
       | 
       | [1] https://youtu.be/zzKgnNGqxMw?si=0Qlrd-lcyAUvJHg8&t=176
        
       | pge wrote:
       | The Leidenfrost effect is also one explanation often given for
       | why walking on hot coals without burning your feet is possible.
       | The theory is that the sweat on your feet evaporates creating a
       | vapor barrier that insulates the feet from heat.
        
         | bragr wrote:
         | Huh, this a a solved problem. You can walk on coals because
         | both the ashy coals and your skin are poor conductors of heat,
         | your feet are only in contact with the coals briefly, and your
         | blood flow carries the heat away from the contact points. The
         | only trick is to walk gently yet quickly on them.
        
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       (page generated 2024-06-12 23:02 UTC)