https://phys.org/physics-news/soft-matter/ en-us The latest news on soft matter, soft condensed matter, liquids, colloids, polymers, foams, gels, granular materials Controlling light with light is a long-sought goal for computing and communication technologies. Achieving this capability would allow optical signals to be processed without converting them into electrical signals, potentially enabling faster and more energy-efficient devices. In recent years, researchers have begun exploring an unexpected platform for this purpose: soft matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-nanosecond-liquid-crystal-droplet.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:30:01 EDT news692295001 In physics, the mesoscale lies between the microscopic and the macroscopic. It is not just the domain of tiny living creatures like small larvae, shrimp, and jellyfish, but also where physics equations become extreme. While the macroscopic realm is governed by inertia and the microscopic by viscosity, the mesoscale is both and neither, requiring a new set of physics to describe it. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mesoscale-swimmers-pave-drug-delivery.html General Physics Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:00:01 EDT news691772107 Researchers at the University of Vienna have uncovered a surprising phenomenon: polymer chains with segments that simply fluctuate at different intensities can spontaneously develop directional, persistent motion when densely packed—even though nothing in the system points them in any particular direction. This "entropic tug of war," driven by fundamental physical constraints, could help explain how DNA organizes and moves inside living cells and may lead to new materials. The study is published in Physical Review X. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-polymers-worms-materials-told.html General Physics Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:20:05 EST news691934941 When you reach the bottom of a container of milk or honey, you might be tempted to tip the container over to get that last pesky little bit out. After all, you only need another teaspoon for that recipe, and you're sure it's in there. From emptying jars to drying dishes, research about thin film flows in the kitchen highlights everyday connections to physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-rust-dumping-wok-kitchen.html Soft Matter Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:00:06 EST news691669855 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, similarly to how they would be in a liquid. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-simulations-path-ideal-glass-crystal.html General Physics Sun, 01 Mar 2026 13:00:03 EST news691408346 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 power plants. MIT Professor Kripa Varanasi has long studied methods to reduce bubble disruption. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tackling-industry-burdensome-problem.html Soft Matter Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:40:01 EST news691318981 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 across a hot pan. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-puddle-reveal-lotus-surfaces.html General Physics Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:11 EST news691261682 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 that opens the door to smart, reconfigurable materials and microscopic robots. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-world-microscopic-scale-metamaterials.html General Physics Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:40:01 EST news691247370 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 Review Letters, the results build on our latest understanding of tissue formation and could even help resolve long-standing experimental mysteries surrounding our own organs. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tissues-propelled-topological-defects-biophysicists.html General Physics Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:30:01 EST news690630434 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 even gentle chemical gradients, such as a small change in salt concentration, can dramatically reshape how particles move through porous materials. Their results are published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-particles-dont.html General Physics Thu, 19 Feb 2026 10:03:35 EST news690717781 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" called nematic liquid crystal microcolloids, allowing for reconfigurable self-assembly of micrometer-sized particles dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal host. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-smart-fluid-reconfigured-temperature.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:20:23 EST news690553201 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 modeling this chaotic motion of fluids, encompassing many scales of time and space, has remained out of reach of scientists for more than a century. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-turbulence-equation-eddy-interactions-ai.html General Physics Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:20:35 EST news690128401 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 quantity for describing liquids in thermodynamic equilibrium. The researchers present their findings in a new study published in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ai-method-liquid-simulations-fundamental.html Soft Matter Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:42:25 EST news690050521 If you've ever watched a glass blower at work, you've seen a material behaving in a very special way. As it cools, the viscosity of molten glass increases steadily but gradually, allowing it to be shaped without a mold. Physicists call this behavior a strong glass transition, and silica glass is the textbook example. Most polymer glasses behave very differently, and are known as fragile glass formers. Their viscosity rises much more steeply as temperature drops, and therefore they cannot be processed without a mold or very precise temperature control. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-invert-empirical-law-glass-physics.html Soft Matter Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:00:04 EST news689936766 Using the Frontier supercomputer at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have performed the largest direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulence in three dimensions, attaining a record resolution of 35 trillion grid points. Tackling such a complex problem required the exascale (1 billion billion or more calculations per second) capabilities of Frontier, the world's most powerful supercomputer for open science. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-supercomputer-simulations-turbulence-theories-trillion.html Soft Matter Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:33:00 EST news689877121 The irregular, swirling motion of fluids we call turbulence can be found everywhere, from stirring in a teacup to currents in the planetary atmosphere. This phenomenon is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations—a set of mathematical equations that describe how fluids move. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-revealing-hidden-turbulent-limited-equations.html General Physics Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:27:34 EST news689866021 Time crystals, a collection of particles that "tick"—or move back and forth in repeating cycles—were first theorized and then discovered about a decade ago. While scientists have yet to create commercial or industrial applications for this intriguing form of matter, these crystals hold great promise for advancing quantum computing and data storage, among other uses. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-scientists-levitating-crystals.html General Physics Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:29:24 EST news689603342 A recent study by a team of researchers led by TU Darmstadt has found that tiny amounts of liquid can navigate their way through unknown environments like living cells—without sensors, computers or external control. The tiny droplets can navigate autonomously, are able to detect obstacles from a distance and move reliably through complex mazes—without cameras or electronics. The reason for this is a mechanism that the research team refers to as "chemical echolocation." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tiny-droplets-mazes-chemical-echolocation.html General Physics Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:16:38 EST news689328962 Ordinary matter, when cooled, transitions from a gas into a liquid. Cool it further still, and it freezes into a solid. Quantum matter, however, can behave very differently. In the early 20th century, researchers discovered that when helium is cooled, it transitions from a seemingly ordinary gas into a so-called superfluid. Superfluids flow without losing any energy, among other quantum quirks, like an ability to climb out of containers. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-superfluids-indefinitely-physicists.html Soft Matter Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:46:29 EST news688826716 Several years ago, scientists discovered that a single microscopic particle could rock back and forth on its own under a steady electric field. The result was curious, but lonely. Now, Northwestern University engineers have discovered what happens when many of those particles come together. The answer looks less like ordinary physics and more like mystifying, flawlessly timed choreography. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-medium-particles-synchronize.html Soft Matter Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:53:26 EST news688665181 What happens if liquefied natural gas (LNG) hits the wall of the cargo tanks in a ship? New research from the team of physicist Devaraj van der Meer from the University of Twente, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that much higher pressure peaks can occur during impact than previously assumed. This insight is important for the design and safety of LNG ships and future liquid hydrogen transport systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-sloshing-liquefied-natural-gas-cargo.html Soft Matter Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:30:01 EST news688663607 Physicists have used a new optical centrifuge to control the rotation of molecules suspended in liquid helium nano-droplets, bringing them a step closer to demystifying the behavior of exotic, frictionless superfluids. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-optical-centrifuge-physicists-probe-mysteries.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:15:46 EST news688320902 The ice in a domestic freezer is remarkably different from the single crystals that form in snow clouds, or even those formed on a frozen pond. As temperatures drop, ice crystals can grow in a variety of shapes: from stocky hexagonal prisms to flat plates, to Grecian columns. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-bridging-theories-physics-controversy-thin.html General Physics Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:00:05 EST news687688802 Foams are everywhere: soap suds, shaving cream, whipped toppings and food emulsions like mayonnaise. For decades, scientists believed that foams behave like glass, their microscopic components trapped in static, disordered configurations. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-physics-foam-strangely-resembles-ai.html Soft Matter Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:00:03 EST news687605317 Researchers at the University of Konstanz have developed a gentle, contact-free method to collect liquids and remove them from microscopic surface structures. The method uses vapor condensation to generate surface currents that transport droplets off surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-dry-surface-fluid-physics-contact.html Soft Matter Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:22:30 EST news687536521 A team of New York University scientists has created a gear mechanism that relies on fluids to generate rotation. The invention holds potential for a new generation of mechanical devices that offer greater flexibility and durability than do existing gears—whose origins date back to ancient China. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-fluid-gears-rotate-teeth-mechanical.html General Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:05:04 EST news687531843 Glassy materials are everywhere, with applications far exceeding windowpanes and drinking glasses. They range from bioactive glasses for bone repair and amorphous pharmaceuticals that boost drug solubility to ultra-pure silica optics used in gravitational-wave detectors. In principle, any substance can become glass if its hot liquid is cooled fast enough to avoid forming an ordered crystal. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-glass-hard.html Condensed Matter Fri, 09 Jan 2026 09:12:30 EST news687172322 Step inside the strange world of a superfluid, a liquid that can flow endlessly without friction, defying the common-sense rules we experience every day, where water pours, syrup sticks and coffee swirls and slows under the effect of viscosity. In these extraordinary fluids, motion often organizes itself into quantized vortices: tiny, long-lived whirlpools that act as the fundamental building blocks of superfluid flow. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-journey-center-quantized-vortex-microscopic.html Soft Matter Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:30:31 EST news685722601 Through a novel combination of machine learning and atomic force microscopy, researchers in China have unveiled the molecular surface structure of "premelted" ice, resolving a long-standing mystery surrounding the liquid-like layer which forms on icy surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-machine-microscopy-year-mystery-premelting.html Condensed Matter Fri, 19 Dec 2025 09:33:54 EST news685359201 Whether it's Greek ouzo, French pastis or Turkish raki, when these spirits are diluted with water, the mixture becomes cloudy. The reason for this is that the aniseed oils contained in the spirit dissolve well in alcohol but not in water. The clear ouzo from the bottle has a high alcohol content at which the oil is fully soluble. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ouzo-effect-reveals-oil-droplets.html Soft Matter Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:11:37 EST news685199466