Sand in an hourglass might seem simple and straightforward, but such granular materials are actually tricky to model. From far away, flowing sand resembles a liquid, streaming down the center of an ...

Cambridge scientists have used downscaled laboratory models to show how sand dunes move through a landscape, revealing the conditions that determine whether they will pass through hurdles in their ...

The model, published in Physical Review Fluids, is the first to describe interactions between sand dunes and obstacles. By analysing how currents are deflected in the presence of an obstacle, they ...