About

Who's behind the blobs

Wobble Lab is an independent project run from Valais, Switzerland. It exists because physics is more fun to poke than to read about.

What's here

Quick reads about soft matter: the physics of gels, foams, pastes and emulsions. Basically anything too floppy to be a solid and too organised to be a liquid. Next to them, blobs that run in your browser, so you can poke the thing you're reading about.

Nothing is a video. Every frame is worked out while you watch, which is why you can grab a blob mid-wobble and it reacts.

Why jelly?

Because it's the easiest soft solid to get hold of. A dessert jelly and an industrial hydrogel follow the same equations, and one of them is in your fridge. Most of the cool stuff about soft matter can be shown with something you can eat afterwards.

Is it right?

The reads aim to be right, not flashy. When a number depends on the recipe, the temperature or how it was measured, I say so, and a rule of thumb is called a rule of thumb.

The blobs are models, not measurements. They copy what matters for getting a feel for it (keeping volume, fighting shear, damping), but they're not a finite element analysis, and they can't predict a real gel's yield point, the moment it gives way.

Who pays for it

One ad slot, placed in the page so it never covers a blob or gets in the way of a drag. No full-screen ads, no surprise overlays. If there's no ad to show, the slot shrinks away and gives you the space back.

Say hi

Spotted a mistake, especially in the science? Tell me on the contact page.