Tiny symmetric swimmer evades basic rule of fluid dynamics
May. 13, 2021 , 6:45 PM Play a video of swimmer Michael Phelps in reverse, and you’ll notice right away that his stroke looks dramatically different running forward or backward in time. Such time asymmetry typifies the swimming motion of the vast majority of animals—and it’s absolutely essential for bacteria and other microbes. But now, a team of physicists has developed a tiny mechanical swimmer that can inch along, even though its stroke is symmetric in time. The result opens a new conceptual lane in fluid dynamics and could aid in efforts to develop tiny swimming robots for drug deli...
Source: sciencemag.org