Bouncing gel balls popular in the media
The explanation from physicist Scott Waitukaitis for the screaming and bouncing gel balls in a hot pan has been covered in several media, including the Washington Post.
YouTube-hit
Suddenly it was a YouTube hit: bouncing gel balls in a glowing hot pan. An inspiration for Waitukaitis, because what is the cause of this bouncy phenomenon? After obtaining a VENI grant, the journey could start. One year later, Waitukaitis and group leader Martin van Hecke found the explanation: when the ball hits the hot pan, a little bit of water evaporates within the ball. This causes the ball to shoot upwards, resulting in a never-ending process. Waitukaitis' publication in Nature Physics was covered by several media, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Media
- The Washington Post - These bouncing balls on a hot pan led to a new physics discovery
- New Scientist - Screaming gel balls reveal a way to power soft but noisy robots
- RTL 4 news on Monday 24 July (from 11:42, in Dutch)
- De Volkskrant - Van grap en YouTube-hit tot Nature-publicatie: waarom hydrogelballetjes stuiteren in een pan (in Dutch)
- KIJK - Waarom deze balletjes gillen en stuiteren in hete pan (in Dutch)
- NRC - YouTube-hit met springende gelballetjes levert nieuwe natuurkunde op (in Dutch)