Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Density Plot (IMAGE) DOE/Argonne National Laboratory Caption The project that pushed the ACLF over two billion processor-hours: a visualization of Rayleigh-Taylor instability, which is the result of the mixing of two fluids at different densities. The heavy fluid (top) is accelerated by the light fluid (bottom), yielding bubbles of light fluid and spikes of heavy fluid, each penetrating into the other fluid, followed by the development of a chaotic mixing layer. Gravity is going down in the plot. Accurate simulation of the turbulent mixing of two fluids is a long-standing challenge. Credit Image courtesy Research team from SUNY at Stony Brook, Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics. Usage Restrictions With proper citation License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.