https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. What governs the speed at which raindrops fall, sediment settles in river estuaries, and matter is ejected during a supernova? These questions circle around one, deceitfully simple factor: the rate at which a fluid filled with particles mixes with a particle-free one. Raindrops travel from one layer of air to another; sediment falls from river to seawater, and ejecta travels from the exploding star through the surrounding dust cloud. The same principle dictates sediment mixing in rising smoke, dust storms, nuclear explosions, hydrocarbon refining, metal smelting, wastewater treatment, and more. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-fluid-simulation-unprecedented-scale-toolkit.html General Physics Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:10:07 EDT news692463481 In a recent report, Xiaolei Peng and a team of scientists in materials science and engineering at the University of Texas, U.S., and the Tsinghua University, China, developed opto-thermoelectric microswimmers bioinspired by the motion behaviors of Escherichia coli (E. coli). They engineered the microswimmers using dielectric gold Janus particles driven by a self-sustained electric field arising from the optothermal response of the particles. When they illuminated the constructs with a laser beam, the Janus particles showed an optically generated temperature gradient along the particle surfaces, forming an opto-thermoelectrical field to propel themselves along. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-opto-thermoelectric-microswimmers.html General Physics Fri, 04 Sep 2020 13:10:01 EDT news518442238 Using a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots – and potentially also animals – move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-terradynamics-technique-legged-robots-granular.html Robotics Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:00:16 EDT news283091775 (Phys.org)—Researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland have devised a means of using a Microsoft Kinect sensing system to allow for hand control of holographic optical tweezers. They describe their results in a paper they've uploaded to the preprint server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2012-11-physicists-kinect-holographic-tweezers-video.html General Physics Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:57:28 EST news271331825