"Glass" has a unique and distinct meaning in physics—one that refers not just to the transparent material we associate with window glass. Instead, it refers to any system that looks solid but is not in true equilibrium and ...
Soft Matter
Mar 2, 2026
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26
The types of glass that we encounter in everyday life, such as window glass or smartphone screens, are disordered solids. This means that they consist of particles locked in place, like those in solids, but arranged randomly, ...
Water droplets have a unique ability: They can leap from a surface on their own. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as when a surface repels water or when heat is involved, such as a water or oil droplet skittering ...
General Physics
Feb 26, 2026
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32
In industrial plants around the world, tiny bubbles cause big problems. Bubbles clog filters, disrupt chemical reactions, reduce throughput during biomanufacturing, and can even cause overheating in electronics and nuclear ...
Soft Matter
Feb 26, 2026
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20
Leiden physicists Daniela Kraft and Julio Melio have created soft structures that can take on different shapes without any external drive in their lab. They present their research on microscale metamaterials in Nature—a breakthrough ...
General Physics
Feb 25, 2026
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47
With a new mathematical model, a team of biophysicists has revealed fresh insights into how biological tissues are shaped by the active motion of structural imperfections known as "topological defects." Published in Physical ...
It is commonly assumed that tiny particles just go with the flow as they make their way through soil, biological tissue, and other complex materials. But a team of Yale researchers led by Professor Amir Pahlavan shows that ...
General Physics
Feb 19, 2026
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43
Imagine a "smart fluid" whose internal structure can be rearranged just by changing temperature. In a new study published in Matter, researchers report a way to overcome a long-standing limitation in a class of "smart fluids" ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 17, 2026
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34
The currents of the oceans, the roiling surface of the sun, and the clouds of smoke billowing off a forest fire—all are governed by the same laws of physics and give rise to a complex phenomenon known as turbulence. But precisely ...
General Physics
Feb 12, 2026
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41
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have developed a method using artificial intelligence that can significantly speed up the calculation of liquid properties. The AI approach predicts the chemical potential—an indispensable ...
Soft Matter
Feb 11, 2026
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42
