Thermal convection is ubiquitous in nature and has been studied by scientists and engineers for many decades. In this talk, I will discuss two situations when boundary conditions to thermal convection play interesting and important roles. In one, the top boundary is mobile and thermally opaque, causing the coupled system to oscillate in space and time. The underlying mechanism could be related to the geophysical phenomenon as continents interact with the convective mantle of the earth. In the second experiment, seemingly impeding partitions are inserted into the convective fluid, but the heat-flux can be boosted by several times. These results are discussed and explained in some details.

张骏曾经在武汉大学, 郑州大学, 希伯莱大学, 哥本哈根大学, 洛克菲勒大学, 北京大学和纽约大学学习和工作过。现任美国纽约大学物理系和数学系(克朗所)两系教授。近十年来, 他一直在克朗数学研究所的应用数学实验室负责实验室的建设和长期发展。始于2013年秋, 他在上海纽约大学暨华东师大筹建一个流体物理实验室, 以开展对生物流体和地球流体等方向的研究。他的研究工作曾发表在"物理评论快报", "流体力学年鉴"和"自然"等杂志。张骏的工作也曾经被包括美国ABC电视, 英国的Economist, BBC电台, New Scientists和Nature杂志等媒体报道。