Ecological extinction explains how turbulence dies

Physicists have developed a theoretical understanding of laminar-turbulent transition that explains the lifetime of turbulent flows and an unexpected analogy with the behavior of an ecosystem on the edge of extinction.

...they found that only two classes of fluid motion were needed: a swirling vortex mode around the axis of the pipe and random, irregular fluctuations in the center of the pipe.

The Illinois researchers approached the problem not by thinking about fluid mechanics, but by thinking about phase transitions--the complex phenomena that occur when matter changes its state to become ordered. Examples include the formation of magnets, the formation of ice crystals from water, or even the ordering that occurred when the Universe cooled after the Big Bang, leading to the formation of all known matter.

...unexpected analogy with the behavior of an ecosystem on the edge of extinction