What Makes a Fluid a Fluid?

The Navier-Stokes equations are enormously successful at predicting how fluids flow and swirl. But they fail to account for the microscopic bits that make up matter. But now math based on symmetries offers a new conception of fluids and why they behave the way that they do. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Charlie Wo…