Principal Investigator Lydia Bourouiba
Drops and bubbles can expose us to diseases and harmful chemicals, or tickle our palate with fresh scents and yeast aromas, such as those distinctly characterizing a glass of champagne. Bubbles and drops are the messengers that can connect us to the depth of the waters and the air that others breath and illustrate the inherent interdependence and connectivity that we have with our surrounding environment. In our research, our group focuses on the particular applications where drops and bubbles have important impacts on the health arena. In particular, we focus on elucidating the physical processes that enable the creation of drops and bubbles and the new challenges that they raise in the presence of pathogens. Among them, the questions of violent expiration emission of droplets within a multiphase cloud; the fragmentation of complex fluids such as mucus and saliva; the interaction of pathogens and fluids that lead to various contamination patterns surrounding an infected host; the creation and selection and change of size of the pathogen-bearing droplets in hospitals. Key words: