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Soft Matter news
Physical signals as fate deciders: How mechanical forces extrude cells from tissues
Epithelial tissues are in constant interaction with their environment. Maintaining their functionality requires dynamic balance (homeostasis) and that their cell numbers are tightly regulated. This is achieved by cell extrusion ...
General Physics
Jan 9, 2025
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Simulations of supercooled liquid molecular dynamics may lead to higher-quality glass production at lower cost
Glass might seem to be an ordinary material we encounter every day, but the physics at play inside are actually quite complex and still not completely understood by scientists. Some panes of glass, such as the stained-glass ...
Soft Matter
Jan 8, 2025
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Advanced method produces highly realistic simulations of fluid dynamics
Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a method for generating highly realistic computer-generated images of fluid dynamics in elements such as smoke.
Soft Matter
Jan 6, 2025
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The science behind your Christmas sweater: How friction shapes the form of knitted fabrics
A trio of physicists from the University of Rennes, Aoyama Gakuin University, and the University of Lyon have discovered, through experimentation, that it is friction between fibers that allows knitted fabrics to take on ...
Cooperation between two intruders moving side-by-side in granular media
In bird colonies, schools of fish and cycling pelotons, significant interactions occur between individuals through the surrounding fluid. These interactions are well understood in fluids such as air and water, but what happens ...
Scientists use machine learning to develop an opener for a molecular can
In an era of medical care that is increasingly aiming at more targeted medication therapies, more individual therapies and more effective therapies, doctors and scientists want to be able to introduce molecules to the biological ...
AI model deciphers splashing drop patterns with high accuracy
The impact of a drop on a solid surface is an important phenomenon that has various applications. Especially when the drop splashes, it can cause deterioration of printing and paint qualities, erosion, and propagation of ...
Soft Matter
Dec 27, 2024
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Leaves' resilience to raindrops offer insights into energy harvesting potential
To a leaf, a falling raindrop is equivalent in mass to a bowling ball dropping on a person—so how does the leaf survive? New research elucidates the raindrop's impact and the physical dynamics that help the leaf respond, ...
General Physics
Dec 23, 2024
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Scientists reinvent equations governing formation of snowflakes, raindrops and Saturn's rings
Skoltech researchers have proposed novel mathematical equations that describe the behavior of aggregating particles in fluids. This bears on natural and engineering processes as diverse as rain and snow formation, the emergence ...
General Physics
Dec 23, 2024
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114
Active particles reorganize 3D gels into denser porous structures, study shows
Colloidal gels are complex systems made up of microscopic particles dispersed in a liquid, ultimately producing a semi-solid network. These materials have unique and advantageous properties that can be tuned using external ...
Molecular 'pinball': Superfast collisions predict supercritical fluid properties
Neither gas nor liquid, supercritical fluids exhibit a unique mashup of the properties of both and arise when fluids are pushed to very high temperatures and pressures. Their properties make them ideal for a wide variety ...
General Physics
Dec 19, 2024
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New model find molecular interactions key to creating order in active systems
Non-reciprocal interactions can increase the order in an active system. This is the finding of a study by scientists from the department of Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization ...
General Physics
Dec 12, 2024
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Physicists introduce approach to control wave patterns via fluid flows
The reliable control of traveling waves emerging from the coupling of oscillations and diffusion in physical, chemical and biological systems is a long-standing challenge within the physics community. Effective approaches ...
Self-organization in action: Exploring Abrikosov clusters in a liquid crystal droplet
Science often surprises us with its ability to connect seemingly unrelated phenomena. Have you ever stopped to marvel at how nature arranges itself into intricate patterns, like the spirals of a sunflower or the crystals ...
New method discovered for controlling molecular patterns on liquid droplets
A team of researchers has uncovered a previously unknown phenomenon that could improve the way we design materials at the molecular level. By unlocking a transformation between two types of structural defects on the surface ...
Soft Matter
Dec 2, 2024
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3D-printed particles propel themselves across the surface of a fluid
A small team of physicists at the University of Amsterdam has demonstrated the ability of 3D-printed particles to propel themselves across the surface of a fluid, given the right fuel. The group has posted a paper describing ...
Tiny rotating particles create vorticity in viscous fluids, yielding fascinating new behaviors
Vorticity, a measure of the local rotation or swirling motion in a fluid, has long been studied by physicists and mathematicians. The dynamics of vorticity is governed by the famed Navier-Stokes equations, which tell us that ...
How tiny droplets can deform ice: Findings show potential for cryopreservation and food engineering
When water freezes slowly, the location where water turns into ice—known as the freezing front—forms a straight line. Researchers from the University of Twente showed how droplets that interact with such a freezing front ...
General Physics
Nov 25, 2024
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Theoretical model explains the anomalous properties of water in extreme conditions
Water, a molecule essential for life, has unusual properties—known as anomalies—that define its behavior. However, there are still many enigmas about the molecular mechanisms that would explain the anomalies that make ...
Soft Matter
Nov 14, 2024
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Fluids thicken at the speed of light: A new theory extends Einstein's relativity to real fluids
The theory of special relativity is rife with counterintuitive and surprising effects, the most famous of which are length contraction and time dilation. If an object travels at a relative speed, which is a non-negligible ...
More news
Ocean waves grow way beyond known limits, new research finds
Scientists characterize shale cap rocks at tiny scales
Other news
Blue Origin set for first launch of giant New Glenn rocket
Quantum breakthrough may lead to sustainable chiral spintronics
Biofilm busters: Plant-derived molecule stops bacteria from forming protective biofilms on surfaces
Ocean temperatures hit record highs in 2024, study finds
Plant hormones that help roots reach deeper water provide potential strategy for drought-resistant crops
Hydrogen peroxide and the mystery of fruit ripening: 'Signal messengers' in plants
Study reveals secrets behind cordierite's anomalous thermal expansion
