Research featured in Quanta Magazine

Quanta Magazine featured my research in Sea Monkeys Show Scientists How To Rewrite a Rule of Turbulence by Stephen Ornes (October 2, 2026).

The work began in Lei Fang’s lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Brine shrimp swimming in a thin shear flow can send energy toward larger or smaller scales, depending on how they are oriented relative to the flow’s stretching direction. Tensor geometry, the alignment between large-scale strain and small-scale stress, explains the switch.

A brine shrimp swimming through a two-dimensional shear flow.

The article draws on two papers:

X. Si and L. Fang, Biologically generated turbulent energy flux in shear flow depends on tensor geometry, PNAS Nexus (2024).
X. Si, F. De Lillo, G. Boffetta, and L. Fang, Manipulating the direction of turbulent energy flux via tensor geometry in a two-dimensional flow, Science Advances (2025).

Thanks to Stephen Ornes and Quanta Magazine, and to Lei Fang, Filippo De Lillo, and Guido Boffetta. More on the Research page.