Turbulence, So Now I Know

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I've always known that modelling moving fluids is VERY difficult. Take a look at early movie CGI and any liquid feels "solid". When they cracked it, and by that I mean when they had worked out how to fool us, there was a big step up in the types of movies we all got to ignore.
So I knew modelling turbulence was hard.

And I just read an article that, whilst explaining the work of some people that proved something or other, explained why turbulence is so hard.

Turbulence is recursive. By that I mean look closely at a swirling vortex within turbulent water* and there are tiny vortices, and it's vorticies all the way down, "until the effects of internal friction (or viscosity) within the fluid take over and the flow smooths out."

Hah, obvious when you read about it and obvious when you think about it.

With so so many layers all bundled up inside one another then, yeah, it's bloody hard.

And now I know, and so do you.

* doesn't have to be water, one could easily think about a turbulent life, a turbulent society, a turbulent game, and the same recursive-ness applies - there's always something deeper going on

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