Here's something so simple, so in our faces in daily life, yet blows my mind every time I think about it:
Most of us know this: All solids are associated with 'elasticity' to some extent: you apply a force, it deforms, you remove the force, it regains its original shape. In contrast, fluids are associated with 'viscosity': when you apply a shear (tangential) force, it flows while offering a frictional resistance to the force.
Now, many biological tissues are 'viscoelastic'. For example, the synovial fluid in your knee joint lubricates the joint through its viscosity, while also absorbing some of the shock your knee experiences when you walk or run. It has both properties: the 'viscosity' of a fluid and the 'elasticity' of a solid!
How cool is that! How intelligent and concerned evolution has been! Every little thing taken care of so completely!
Trust me, every little detail of how our own body functions and the physics involved is no less fascinating than all the galaxies, stars and black holes out there :)!
I fell in love with fluid mechanics in my second year of undergraduate studies (1992) and continue to be fascinated with the subject (30+ years!).
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