Ripples in corn syrup made visible by a polarizing filter at the OIST Science Festival 2025

Photo of a science experiment, showing a glass tank of clear liquid backlit by bright, white light. One half of the tank side has an attached polarized sheet of material. A researcher is stirring the clear liquid behind this sheet with a metal rod, causing glowing, angular ripples in the fluid beneath the surface. A kid is watching in the foreground.

The high viscosity of corn syrup normally makes disturbances invisible to our eyes – but when the light from the ripples passes through a polarizing filter, the disturbances become clear as strange, angular waves.

Date:
01 February 2025
Credit:
Jeff Prine / OIST
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