Termites live underground in termite mounds to protect themselves from the heat of the desert, but how do they keep their mounds cool? The answer lies in some neat fluid dynamics which is now used to design naturally ventilated buildings across the world. Research from Shantanu Bailoor at Johns Hopkins University.

This video is part of a collaboration between FYFD and the Journal of Fluid Mechanics featuring a series of interviews with researchers from the APS DFD 2017 conference.

\Sponsored by FYFD, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and the UK Fluids Network. Produced by Tom Crawford and Nicole Sharp with assistance from A.J. Fillo.