Dune! Move Over!

Dune! Move Over!

Sand dunes are inanimate objects, so they don't think or feel.

However, CNN reports new research reveals sand dunes can communicate with their neighbors and let them know they need space.

Cambridge University scientists made the discovery after putting two identical piles of sand in a tank that generated enough water flow to move the particles.

Sand dunes are known to move around, or migrate, in rivers, oceans and deserts and smaller dunes generally move faster than larger ones.

The researchers thought the two piles would move at the same speed since they were the same height and volume.

But that's not what happened.

Instead, the dunes kept moving away from each other until they were at the opposite ends of the round tank.

So the upstream dune is actually generating a wake that speeds up the downstream dune to give it an extra kick.

Senior Research Fellow Nathalie Vriend BP Institute for Multiphase Flow