SMRTR Science & EngineeringJul 12, 2026Quanta Magazine

We Know Simple Fluids Can Flow. Turns Out, Some Can Fracture.

SMRTR summary

A Drexel University chemical engineering researcher studying thick, viscous liquids like polypropylene and crude oil discovered something unexpected — some simple fluids don't just flow when stretched, they fracture like a solid. Using a technique called extensional rheology, which stretches liquids between metal plates, she observed clean breaks in fluids previously thought incapable of this behavior, challenging long-held assumptions about how liquids behave.

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