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Soft Matter news
From atomic vibrations to laboratory mechanics: Bridging 20 orders of magnitude in time
How can we predict the way a real material, such as a polymer, responds mechanically over timescales ranging from the ultrafast motion of atoms to the slow deformations measured in a laboratory? This is a deceptively difficult ...
Tiny polymer particles keep water jets stable for longer
Tiny, soft polymer particles—known as microgels—can help to stabilize extremely thin liquid jets. How this works is the finding of a study led by researchers at TU Darmstadt, which has been published in Nature Communications. ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 7, 2026
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Soft nanoscale confinement prevents ice, exposing water's liquid-to-glass transition
An international collaboration of researchers has used ANSTO's facilities to uncover new properties of one of the most fundamental everyday materials, water, and answer an important scientific question. The findings, published ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 3, 2026
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Surf's up: How the seafloor shapes breaking waves
A new study led by surfing scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego revealed the physical relationships underlying a pattern familiar to generations of surfers.
Soft Matter
Sep 3, 2026
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Fast but error-prone AI assists in solving a decades-old fluid mechanics problem in five weeks
An AI assistant helped University of Colorado Boulder researchers solve a mathematical problem that had challenged their lab for a year and a half, though it made subtle errors along the way. The breakthrough could improve ...
Soft Matter
Aug 27, 2026
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Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials
When engineers look to nature for inspiration, they often turn to living systems. The flight of birds has influenced aircraft design, gecko feet inspired new adhesives and lotus leaves led to the development of self-cleaning ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2026
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One step closer to the ideal glass—simulations reveal hidden order at absolute zero
In the physical sense, glass is not limited to familiar window glass; it forms whenever a liquid is cooled so quickly that it cannot crystallize. As a result, glass has an amorphous structure—that is, its "building blocks" ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 24, 2026
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Century-old physics idea explains why cubic fluid equations work
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) has developed a new cubic equation of state (EOS) that provides a physical justification for a mathematical structure that the chemical and petroleum ...
General Physics
Aug 20, 2026
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Newton's momentum principles could help design safer offshore facilities in extreme waves
Researchers have developed a novel model to accurately and efficiently predict the impact of "green water"—water washing onto the deck of an offshore facility during extreme wave conditions.
General Physics
Aug 20, 2026
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Curved surfaces reshape active materials, localizing vibrations near defects
Many materials, both living and engineered, are powered from within. Scientists have thoroughly investigated how such 'active' materials operate, but so far, mostly in circumstances where the curvature of the environment ...
Soft Matter
Aug 18, 2026
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Sound-based traps reveal how fragile biomolecular droplets move, merge and change stiffness
Being able to measure something plays a vital role in our ability to understand many phenomena. But measuring can often affect what we are trying to measure. This is particularly the case when measuring substances that are ...
Soft Matter
Aug 18, 2026
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Loud snoring—simulation reveals the physical mechanism that keeps so many of us awake at night
Anyone who has had to share a room—or worse, a bed—with a loud snorer knows the effect unchecked snoring can have on sleep, sanity and emotional stability. An entire industry of products, technologies and treatments claims ...
General Physics
Aug 18, 2026
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Active particles could make stable glasses stronger without catastrophic brittle failure
The strongest glasses have an Achilles' heel that causes them to fail catastrophically when pushed past their limit. They do not bend or stretch, as all damage concentrates into a single plane and the material fails in an ...
Soft Matter
Aug 16, 2026
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Cell biochemistry beyond membranes: Condensate physics reveals general rules for chemical responses
Basic biology courses teach that cells contain organelles—such as the nucleus, mitochondria and Golgi apparatus—set apart by lipid membranes to get things done. Recent cell biology research has revealed another organizational ...
Soft Matter
Aug 14, 2026
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Tiny particles defy action-reaction symmetry to stay in motion
From schools of fish and flocks of birds to microscopic synthetic particles, many systems in nature and the laboratory consist of individual units or agents that move by consuming energy. These systems are known as active ...
General Physics
Aug 9, 2026
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New thermodynamic framework explains pressure and edge currents in spinning active particles
Physicists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), the Technical University of Darmstadt, Sapienza University in Rome and the University of Camerino (both in Italy) have calculated the fundamental laws of thermodynamics ...
General Physics
Jul 27, 2026
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Chocolate syrup-like fluid stores multiple interacting memories
Animals and electronic devices aren't the only things with memory. Materials can retain memories of past deformations in their microscopic structure. A common example is a crease in a sheet of paper that has been folded then ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 23, 2026
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Water-surface vortices drive tiny rotors without electricity, magnets or chemicals
Reliably generating controlled miniature rotations has long been a challenge: Chemical propulsion systems wear out, and methods that use electric or magnetic fields require complex setups. A team from KIT's Institute of Microstructure ...
General Physics
Jul 22, 2026
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Microscale roughness breakthrough defies 80 years of fluid dynamics
Logically, you would think a sleek surface has optimal aerodynamics—but recent research at Tohoku University turns this fundamental principle on its head. Applying an irregular microscale surface texture reduced the aerodynamic ...
General Physics
Jul 22, 2026
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How physics and mathematical modeling help us make better clothes
A new paper in the journal Nature Physics offers insights into the physics of liquid droplets—and while many people may not appreciate the mathematical accomplishment, they will benefit from the athletic wear and raincoats ...
General Physics
Jul 18, 2026
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Other news
First confirmed Diplodocus outside North America reshapes Late Jurassic migration picture
Parakeets, male or female, love a good fight
AI models enable cross-species mapping of cell biology
Structural study explains how cells stabilize protective membrane pockets
Data-driven model captures dynamics of turbulence at scale
The structure of water: Entropy determines whether ions stick
