Since the recent proof that singularities can arise in the Navier-Stokes equations, some people have said that this shows the equations are wrong. I disagree. All differential equations of continuum mechanics are wrong, because continua are really made of molecules — but we already knew that. So far as I am aware, the new discoveries haven’t changed the fact that the NS equations look like just the right model of fluid flow until you get down to the molecular level.

[16 October 2026]