/ en-us 麻豆淫院 internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: 麻豆淫院ics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Atoms slip against one another, eventually sticking in various combinations. Tectonic plates do the same, sliding across each other until they stick in a stationary state. Everything from the tiniest particles to unfathomably large landmasses possesses this fundamental stick and slip characteristic, but only now are scientists beginning to understand the mechanics of the friction underpinning this property. /news/2025-06-simple-smooth-friction-mystery.html General 麻豆淫院ics Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:06:03 EDT news669906361 Earthworms often form a cluster, from which they can barely free themselves. A similarly active, writhing structure forms when the tentacles of lion's mane jellyfish become entangled. Robotic grippers utilize this principle by using multiple synthetic flexible arms to grip and move objects. And such interlinked self-propelled filaments can also be found at the smaller micrometer scale, for example in a biological cell. /news/2025-06-movement-entangled-cluster-worms-polymer.html Soft Matter Mon, 16 Jun 2025 12:51:04 EDT news669297062 Pounding on the bottom of a glass bottle of ketchup is one of life's small annoyances. Getting that sweet, red concoction from its solid phase to a liquid takes too long when you're hungry and could even require messy strategies with a butter knife. /news/2025-06-ketchup-solid-phase-properties-reveal.html General 麻豆淫院ics Soft Matter Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:39:48 EDT news668079579 An international research collaboration led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists that examined microscopic blobs of protein found in human cells has discovered that some morph from an almost honey-like substance to a hard candy-like solid. /news/2025-04-scientists-reveal-protein-linked-parkinson.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 18 Apr 2025 14:00:03 EDT news664167770 The melting of crystals is the process by which an increase in temperature induces the disruption of the ordered crystalline lattice, leading to the disordered structure and highly fluctuating dynamic behavior of liquids. At the glass transition, where an amorphous solid (a glass) turns into a liquid, there is no obvious change in structure, and only the dynamics of the atoms change, going from strongly localized dynamics in space (in the glass state) to the highly fluctuating (diffusive) dynamics in the liquid. /news/2025-04-crystal-glass-transition-obey-physical.html Condensed Matter Soft Matter Thu, 03 Apr 2025 07:10:01 EDT news662731528 Soft viscoelastic solids are flexible materials that can return to their original shape after being stretched. Due to the unique properties driving their deformation, these materials can sometimes behave and change shape in unexpected ways. /news/2025-02-unveils-extrusion-instabilities-viscoelastic-materials.html General 麻豆淫院ics Soft Matter Tue, 18 Feb 2025 10:20:54 EST news659096445 A new method based on optical tweezers can measure viscoelasticity of biological materials in a simpler and more versatile way. In an article published in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers report three novel results in the field of mechanobiology, including the finding that viscoelasticity of tissues inside living animals changes with age. /news/2025-01-optical-tweezer-technique-reveals-disease.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 08 Jan 2025 12:56:05 EST news655563361 Currently employed computational methods to simulate materials and their mechanical behavior are based on molecular dynamics (MD) with atomistic force-fields. These methods provide an excellent description of the thermodynamically stable phases of materials with arbitrary chemical and microstructural complexity. /news/2024-12-scientists-hardest-problems-atomic-scale.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:17:08 EST news652961823 With the flick of a light, researchers have found a way to rearrange life's basic tapestry, bending DNA strands back on themselves to reveal the material nature of the genome. /news/2024-09-dna-strands-revealing-genome.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 10 Sep 2024 10:33:05 EDT news645183182 Biomolecular condensates are membraneless hubs of condensed proteins and nucleic acids within cells, which researchers are realizing are tied to an increasing number of cellular processes and diseases. Studies of biomolecular condensate formation have uncovered layers of complexity, including their ability to behave like a viscoelastic material. However, the molecular basis for this putty-like property was unknown. /news/2024-07-biomolecular-condensate-molecular-putty-properties.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 02 Jul 2024 11:13:03 EDT news639137581 The shearing of fluids鈥攎eaning the sliding of fluid layers over each other under shear forces鈥攊s an important concept in nature and in rheology, the science that studies the flow behavior of matter, including liquids and soft solids. Shear forces are lateral forces applied parallel to a material, inducing deformation or slippage between its layers. /news/2024-04-physics-complex-fluids-polymers-unexpected.html General 麻豆淫院ics Soft Matter Thu, 04 Apr 2024 11:28:03 EDT news631448881 The cell nucleus is considered to be the control center of vital cellular processes, but its material properties continue to puzzle scientists. An international research team led by MedUni Vienna has now developed a new technique that provides a previously unattainable view of the mechanical properties inside this control center. /news/2024-01-technique-visualizes-mechanical-cell-nucleus.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 18 Jan 2024 10:26:03 EST news624795961 Sniffles, snorts and blows of runny noses are the hallmarks of cold and flu season鈥攁nd that increase in mucus is exactly what bacteria use to mount a coordinated attack on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers at Penn State. The team found that the thicker the mucus, the better the bacteria are able to swarm. The findings could have implications for treatments that reduce the ability of bacteria to spread. /news/2023-12-bacteria-mucus-maneuvers-reveals-snot.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 05 Dec 2023 15:22:04 EST news621012122 Recent advancements in the development of hybrid and electric vehicles have increased the need for highly performing battery technologies. Research teams worldwide have thus been working on a wide range of alternative battery solutions, while also trying to identify new promising electrolytes for these batteries. /news/2023-11-electrolytes-solid-state-batteries-based-viscoelastic.html Materials Science Thu, 02 Nov 2023 09:19:15 EDT news618135549 American beach town boardwalks often boast numerous storefronts advertising saltwater taffies. The candy calls to mind summer vacations, a rainbow assortment of colors and flavors, and a sweetness that sticks to the roof of your mouth. /news/2023-09-sweet-physics-saltwater-taffy.html Soft Matter Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:00:01 EDT news613727544 A University of Virginia-led study about a class of materials called associative polymers appears to challenge a long-held understanding of how the materials, which have unique self-healing and flow properties, function at the molecular level. /news/2023-06-discovery-year-old-dogma-associative-polymers.html Polymers Materials Science Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:03:54 EDT news604937022 Scientists from the University of Tsukuba obtained a new theoretical equation for the propagation of ultrasonic waves through liquids containing encapsulated bubbles. They found that including the compressibility of the bubble shell was vital for accurately predicting the behavior of sound waves. This work may lead to improved resolution of ultrasound imaging based on the development of improved contrast agents. /news/2023-06-propagation-ultrasonic-liquids-encapsulated.html General 麻豆淫院ics Soft Matter Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:18:03 EDT news604930681 Semicrystalline polymers are solids that are assumed to flow only above their melting temperature. In a new study published in Science Advances, Chien-Hua Tu and a research team at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany and the University of Ioannina Greece confined crystals within nanoscopic cylindrical pores to show the flowing nature of semicrystalline polymers below their melting point, alongside an intermediate state of viscosity to the melt and crystal states. /news/2023-05-crystals-semicrystalline-polymer-shown-temperatures.html Condensed Matter Fri, 19 May 2023 09:20:01 EDT news603706233 Materials scientists at UNSW Sydney have shown that human pluripotent stem cells in a lab can initiate a process resembling the gastrulation phase鈥攚here cells begin differentiating into new cell types鈥攎uch earlier than occurs in mother nature. /news/2022-12-scientists-hydrogel-materials-stem-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 15 Dec 2022 10:37:05 EST news590323018 Scientists in Japan have made a tuneable, elastic and temperature-sensitive gel by using complementary DNA strands to connect star-shaped polymer molecules together. The gel, and the method used to develop it, could lead to advances in tissue regeneration, drug delivery and soft robotics. Xiang Li at Hokkaido University led the team of researchers who reported their findings in the journal Polymer Science. /news/2022-02-dna-polymer-gels.html Polymers Wed, 16 Feb 2022 08:59:57 EST news564224394 Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered how the sponginess and stickiness of stem cell nuclei controls how they "differentiate" into specialized cells. They found that the nucleus starts solid-like but becomes more fluid-like over time. Less force is transmitted to its inner parts, leaving cells to commit to a certain differentiation pathway. How stem cells choose and keep to differentiation paths continues to be a crucial question for medical science. /news/2022-01-sponginess-cell-nuclei-future.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 03 Jan 2022 09:00:03 EST news560422595 Liquid droplets of protein and RNA have traits reminiscent of a childhood joy: Silly Putty. /news/2021-11-illuminates-properties-protein-rna-droplets.html Soft Matter Tue, 16 Nov 2021 13:14:44 EST news556290880 Over the past few decades, some physicists worldwide have been trying to use the second layer of 4He films adsorbed on a graphite substrate to study the interplay between superfluid and supersolid phases of matter. Some teams have collected torsional oscillator (TO) measurements on this layer, including P.A. Crowell, F.W. Van Keuls and J.D. Reppy at Cornell University, as well as Dr. Jan Nyeki and his colleagues at Royal Holloway. /news/2021-10-unequivocal-experimental-evidence-superfluid-state.html Condensed Matter Quantum 麻豆淫院ics Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:30:04 EDT news553415780 New research led by Georgia Tech's College of Engineering finds that honey bees have developed a way to transform pollen particles into a viscoelastic pellet, allowing them to transport pollen efficiently, quickly, and reliably to their hive. The study also suggests the insects remove pollen from their bodies at speeds 2鈥�10 times slower than their typical grooming speeds. /news/2021-10-honey-bees-pollen-particles-viscoelastic.html Plants & Animals Thu, 07 Oct 2021 08:21:00 EDT news552813658 Squirting a jet of water through a drop of liquid may sound like idle fun, but if done precisely, and understood thoroughly, the splashy exercise could help scientists identify ways to inject fluids such as vaccines through skin without using needles. /news/2021-08-high-speed-camera-captures-jet-splashy.html Soft Matter Wed, 18 Aug 2021 09:55:45 EDT news548499329 Arrays of metal electrodes are often used in medical procedures that require monitoring or delivering electrical impulses in the body, such as brain surgery and epilepsy mapping. However, the metal and plastic materials that comprise them are stiff and inflexible while the body's tissues are soft and malleable. This mismatch limits the places in which electrode arrays can be successfully used, and also requires the application of a large amount of electrical current in order to "jump" the gap between an electrode and its target. /news/2021-06-metal-free-hydrogel-electrodes-flex-body.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Fri, 18 Jun 2021 08:37:54 EDT news543224268 If you've ever tried to lift a pizza slice covered in hot, melted cheese, you've no doubt encountered the long, cheesy strings that bridge one pizza slice from the next. Keep lifting the pizza slice and these cheese bridges eventually break, covering the plate, table (or even your lap) in long, thin strands of cheese. While this is just a minor inconvenience with pizza, it is a longstanding problem in industry, where liquids with similar properties to melted cheese鈥攄ubbed viscoelastic fluids鈥攏eed to be cleanly and speedily dispensed. /news/2021-06-viscoelastic-liquid-bridges.html Materials Science Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:27:14 EDT news543151630 Inside your body, cell movement plays a crucial role in many significant biological processes, including wound healing, immune responses and the potential spread of cancer. /news/2021-04-reveals-unique-mode-cell-migration.html Biochemistry Materials Science Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:26:46 EDT news538057600 An international team led by Professor Yilin Wu, Associate Professor of the Department of 麻豆淫院ics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has made a novel conceptual advance in the field of active matter science. The team discovered a new route in which the self-organization of active fluids in space and time can be controlled by a single material property called viscoelasticity. This new finding may pave the way for fabricating a new class of self-driven devices and materials, such as the ability to control the rhythmic movement of soft robots without relying on electronic circuits, and for the study of microbial physiology. It has been published in the scientific journal Nature. /news/2021-02-physicists-route-self-organisation.html General 麻豆淫院ics Soft Matter Fri, 19 Feb 2021 10:59:12 EST news532954749 Welcome to the amazing world of soft substrates. These materials are made of silicon gels and have the same texture as panna cotta鈥攂ut without the delicious flavor. They are used in a range of applications, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, because their biocompatible and antiadhesive properties make them resistant to corrosion and bacterial contamination. These substrates are so soft that they can be deformed (reversibly) by the capillary forces that occur at the edges of droplets when placed on their surfaces. However, droplets move very slowly on these surfaces; in order to flow, the droplets have to dynamically deform the substrates and overcome the resistance created by the substrate's viscoelastic proprieties. A millimeter-sized droplet placed on a substrate positioned vertically will flow at a speed of only between a few hundred nanometers per second and a few dozen micrometers per second. In other words, it would take the droplet three hours to move just one meter! This slowing effect is known as viscoelastic braking and is a big obstacle to the more widespread use of soft substrates, especially in manufacturing. /news/2021-02-droplets-daredevil-feats-gel-surfaces.html Soft Matter Mon, 08 Feb 2021 10:03:12 EST news532000984