This video is strangely and beautifully captivating. It looks like someone’s playing around with food coloring on a globe, but it’s a visualization of actual ocean currents based on data from an NOAA model.

The NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory actually has all kinds of cool ways to display ocean properties and events, including the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. This is all done to advance the GFDL mission: “Scientists at GFDL develop and use mathematical models and computer simulations to improve our understanding and prediction of the behavior of the atmosphere, the oceans, and climate. GFDL scientists focus on model-building relevant for society, such as hurricane research, prediction, and seasonal forecasting, and understanding global and regional climate change.”