Dandelion Seeds as Brilliant Parachutes

This is another fun summary of a math heavy paper for SIAM News. It is about dandelion seeds and fluid mechanics. Basically it says that dandelion seeds are good at flying because their structure does a really cool vortex thing. The little parachutes above them get the air to roll round and around above them, creating an area of low pressure that "sucks" them up. I love working on these pieces because I get to really dive in to understand the highly technical aspects of the paper. I sometimes miss wrapping my head around something technical and complex and these stories scratch that itch nicely.

https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/dandelion-seeds-as-brilliant-parachutes?fbclid=IwAR27wXz1zM2QHKNwAZ6OMJUbgq30XLwXhWXh5hXykf0H8IomukuIBcmoY1M