New flier glides into the Pacific

Linking fluids as they twist and writhe Helicity is a measure of corkscrew-like motion described by the amount of twisting, writhing, and linking in a fluid. Total helicity is conserved for ideal fluids, but how helicity changes in real fluids with even tiny amounts of viscosity has been an open question. Scheeler et al. provide a complete measurement of total helicity in a real fluid by using a set of hydrofoils to track linking, twisting, and writhing (see the Perspective by Moffatt). They show that twisting dissipates total helicity, whereas writhing and linking conserve it. This provides a fundamental insight into tornadogenesis, atmospheric flows, and the formation of turbulence. —BG