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 If you mix cornstarch and water in the right proportions, you get something that seems not-quite-liquid but also not-quite-solid. Oobleck flows and settles like a liquid when untouched but stiffens when you try to pick it up or stir it with a spoon. The properties of oobleck and other non-Newtonian fluids—including Silly Putty, quicksand, paint, and yogurt—change under stress or pressure, and scientists have long struggled to prove exactly why. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-oobleck-like-fluids-contributes-smart-material.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 01 Dec 2023 12:06:37 EST news620654793 Microgels form a thin protective shell around a droplet until the temperature rises above 32°C. Then the microgels shrink and the droplet dissolves in the surrounding liquid. A study by researchers from the University of Gothenburg now reveals the underlying mechanism behind this process. The discovery could revolutionize methods of targeting medicines to specific locations within the body. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-droplets-route-medicines.html Soft Matter Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:01:03 EST news620564461 A trio of experimental physicists and applied mathematicians at New York University has found evidence that Egypt's Great Sphinx of Giza may have originated as a natural formation. For their study, published in the journal Physical Review Fluids, Samuel Boury, Scott Weady and Leif Ristroph, looked into natural erosion processes and tested the idea that the Sphinx got its start naturally via strong winds. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-nature-great-sphinx-giza.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:00:01 EST news620560710 From precise inkjet printing to clear vision through spectacle lenses—the influence of droplets and their movement shapes numerous areas of our daily lives. While droplets should remain precisely in place on inkjet prints, it is desirable that they move quickly across the surface of spectacle lenses. Research into wetting processes, therefore, plays a crucial role in further improving technological applications. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-electricity-effects-droplets.html General Physics Soft Matter Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:40:02 EST news620480401 A combined team of materials scientists and engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Yale University, has shown via lab experiment, how water-filled channels crisscrossing multi-crystal ice can lead to fractures in materials such as cement and asphalt. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes the experiments they conducted with transparent objects, water and silicone, to show how liquid channels in ice can lead to fractures in porous materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-water-filled-channels-crisscrossing-multi-crystal-ice.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 27 Nov 2023 10:10:01 EST news620301543 The Lorentz reciprocal theorem can now be applied to fluids with broken symmetries. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) in Göttingen have found a way to also accommodate this classical theorem in fluids with odd viscosities. Their discovery opens a new way to explore systems with broken symmetries. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-insights-broken-symmetries-lorentz-reciprocal.html Soft Matter Mon, 27 Nov 2023 09:56:03 EST news620301361 Bubbles are thin liquid shells surrounded by air. Although less well known, there are also antibubbles, which are the opposite of bubbles, i.e., a thin envelope of vapor surrounded by liquid. In a new study, we show that it is possible to create antibubbles by impacting a droplet of a volatile liquid on a bath of viscous oil heated to a temperature above the droplet's boiling point. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-journey-thermal-antibubbles-hot.html Soft Matter Mon, 27 Nov 2023 09:30:03 EST news620299798 In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists explore how small water jets can create stable periodic oscillations on a solid disk, uncovering a connection between these movements and the waves they generate and providing insights into the dynamic interplay of fluid behavior. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-stillness-scientists-oscillations-circular-hydraulic.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:00:02 EST news619696513 Human chromosomes are long polymer chains that store genetic information. The nucleus of each cell contains the entire human genome (DNA) encoded on 46 chromosomes with a total length of about 2 meters. To fit into the microscopic cell nucleus and at the same time provide constant access to genetic information, chromosomes are folded in the nucleus in a special, predetermined way. DNA folding is an urgent task at the intersection of polymer physics and systems biology. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-physicists-chromosome-reveal-loops-affect.html General Physics Soft Matter Wed, 22 Nov 2023 11:18:19 EST news619874297 Forensic science has captured the public imagination by storm, as the profusion of "true crime" media in the last decade or so suggests. By now, most of us know that evidence left at a crime scene, such as blood, can often reveal information that is key to investigating and understanding the circumstances around a crime—and that scientific methods can help interpret that information. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-written-blood-bloodstain-tails-significant.html Soft Matter Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619778120 Biological materials are made of individual components, including tiny motors that convert fuel into motion. This creates patterns of movement, and the material shapes itself with coherent flows by constant consumption of energy. Such continuously driven materials are called active matter. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-code-mechanics-tissues-cells-dimensions.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:48:12 EST news619699688 A novel measurement technique has been developed to visualize the fluid flow and distribution within two droplets levitated and coalesced in space using fluorescence-emitting particles. This technique enabled the estimation of fluid motion within each droplet, thereby revealing the internal flow caused by surface vibration when the droplet merging promotes fluid mixing. Details have been published in Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-technique-fluid-mixing-phenomena-imaging-method.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Thu, 16 Nov 2023 10:32:19 EST news619353137 The risk of hearing loss does not come just from loud machinery or other obvious noise. It can also affect people in public environments like theaters and concert halls. Absorbing this excess sound to make public environments safer for hearing and using the unwanted sound waves to create electricity is the aim of a paper, entitled "Piezoelectric system on harnessing sound energy in closed environment," published in Physics of Fluids. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-safer-spaces.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 14 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619178346 With increasing demand for exploration and utilization of marine resources, achieving direct and efficient communication between water and air has been an urgent need. Sound waves, as the only propagation way with low attenuation in both water and air, has been considered the most practical way to achieve water-air communication. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-water-air-acoustic-communication-based-broadband.html General Physics Soft Matter Wed, 08 Nov 2023 14:47:19 EST news618677237 A new mathematical model predicts that mammalian sperm cells have two distinct swimming modes. This prediction opens new questions about potential connections between sperm cells' motor activity and their transitions to hyperactivation phases that may play an important role in fertilization. The finding is part of a larger effort to use math and fluid dynamics to describe how mammalian sperm move https://phys.org/news/2023-11-mammalian-sperm-cells-modes.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 06 Nov 2023 15:40:48 EST news618507639 Researchers from Tohoku University have developed a model that simulates the motion of fish tail fins. The model uncovers the underlying mechanisms behind a commonly observed phenomenon in fish: how they synchronize the movement of their tail fins, riding the resultant vortices created, thereby saving energy. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fish-synchronize-tail-fins-energy.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 06 Nov 2023 13:00:03 EST news618498001 Anyone who's ever done a belly flop into a swimming pool knows it ends with a blunt-sounding splat, a big splash and a searing red sting. What most people don't know is why. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-secret-painful-belly-flops.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 06 Nov 2023 00:00:01 EST news618224733 Can a machine be trained to paint like Jackson Pollock? More specifically, can 3D printing harness Pollock's distinctive techniques to quickly and accurately print complex shapes? https://phys.org/news/2023-10-reverse-engineering-jackson-pollock-3d-printing-technique.html Soft Matter Tue, 31 Oct 2023 16:55:34 EDT news617990130 How fast does a droplet flow along a fiber? It depends on the diameter of the fiber, and also on its substructure. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Liège who are interested in microfluidics, especially water harvesting in arid/semi-arid regions of our planet. These results are published in Physical Review Fluids. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-mechanisms-fiber.html Soft Matter Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:59:03 EDT news617623142 Electrifying plastic beads in a laboratory setup creates flocking behavior similar to that observed in birds. And if you mix beads of two sizes, they will automatically separate. This seemingly simple observation by Alexandre Morin and Samadarshi Maity teaches us about collective motion at all scales. "It's beautiful that something as complex as birds can be understood at its essence through beads." https://phys.org/news/2023-10-birds-flock-motions-heterogeneous-populations.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 26 Oct 2023 09:15:52 EDT news617530549 Conical structures can have advantageous applications in a variety of fields, ranging from robotics to civil engineering. Studies have found that conical shells made of liquid crystal elastomer films can be effective lifters; devices that can generate thrust for robots and other vehicles. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-formula-strength-thin-conical.html General Physics Soft Matter Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:20:02 EDT news617447451 A trio of fluid dynamics and mathematical modelers at Kyoto University has discovered how sperm and other tiny creatures are able to skirt Newton's third law of motion. In their paper published in the journal PRX Life, Kenta Ishimoto, Clément Moreau and Kento Yasuda describe how they analyzed the movement of algae and sperm cells to learn more about how they move so easily through a fluid. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-odd-elasticity-sperm-skirt-newton.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:54:03 EDT news617360037 Investigating systems consisting of self-propelled particles—so-called active particles—is a rapidly growing area of research. In theoretical models for active particles, it is often assumed that the particles' swimming speed is always the same. This is not so, however, for particles produced in many experiments, for example for those propelled by ultrasound for medical applications. In these cases, the propulsion speed depends on the orientation. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-programmable-unexpected-behavior-particles.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:54:06 EDT news617284443 The amount of power a microswimmer needs to move can now be determined more easily. Scientists from the department Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) developed a general theorem to calculate the minimal energy required for propulsion. These insights allow a profound understanding for practical applications, such as targeted transport of molecules and substrates. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-theorem-fuel-economy-microswimmer.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:43:02 EDT news616322581 A team of physicists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has found that when ants of a certain species collectively carry a large object, they do so in a way that mimics a self-propelled particle as it moves through a fluid. In their paper published in the open-access journal PRX Life, the group describes their study of the behavior of Paratrechina longicornis, a species of ant that are known for collectively carrying large food items to their nests. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-ants-large-mimics-self-propelled-particle.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:26:32 EDT news616148789 From laptop screens to navigation systems, liquid crystals are ubiquitous in modern life. These materials flow like liquids, but their molecules align with one another in a way that resembles the orientational order of a crystal. Electrically switching between different molecular orientations—or phases—in a liquid crystal changes how the material transmits light, hence their use/utility in visual displays. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-combining-bulky-chain-stable-polymer.html Soft Matter Mon, 09 Oct 2023 10:12:56 EDT news616065174 A new model demonstrates that chasing interactions can induce dynamical patterns in the organization of bacterial species. Structural patterns can be created due to the chasing interactions between two bacterial species. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-interactions-bacteria-insights-behavior.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:11:44 EDT news615805900 Identifying the underlying cause of extreme events such as floods, heavy downpours or tornados is immensely difficult and can take a concerted effort by scientists over several decades to arrive at feasible physical explanations. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-employs-deep-extreme-events.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:53:09 EDT news615477181 Scientists have observed the molecular motion of rubber components typically used in automobile tires—polybutadiene and carbon black—with the world's fastest time resolution. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-scientists-interaction-components-rubber-atomic.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:48:49 EDT news615210523 An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg and ETH Zurich has now demonstrated that it is possible to probe electron dynamics in liquids using intense laser fields and to retrieve the electron mean free path—the average distance an electron can travel before colliding with another particle. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-intense-lasers-electron-dynamics-liquids.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:04:14 EDT news615125051