Project Theme: Drops and Bubbles and Plant Epidemiology

Understanding what shapes the drop size distributions produced from fluid fragmentation is important for a range of industrial, natural and health processes. Fluid fragmentation plays an important role in pathogen transmission  in particular. A particular example is from impacts on contaminated surfaces already, some dry, and others already wet, supporting sessile drops. These are ubiquitous… more

Plant diseases represent a growing threat to the global food supply. The factors contributing to pathogen transmission from plant to plant remain poorly understood. Statistical correlations between rainfalls and plant disease outbreaks were reported; however, the detailed mechanisms linking the two were relegated to a black box. In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we… more

Plant diseases are a major cause of losses of crops worldwide. Although rainfalls and foliar disease outbreaks are correlated, the detailed mechanism explaining their link remains poorly understood. The common assumption from phytopathology for such link is that a splash is generated upon impact of raindrops on contaminated liquid films coating sick leaves. We examine… more

Flows driven by surface tension are both ubiquitous and diverse, involving the drinking of birds and bees, the flow of xylem in plants, the impact of raindrops on animals, respiration in humans, and the transmission of diseases in plants and animals, including humans. The  fundamental physical principles underlying such flows provide a unifying framework to… more