Arrested demixing opens route to bigels

Arrested demixing opens route to bigels.

Understanding and, ultimately, controlling the properties of amorphous materials is one of the key goals of material science. Among the different amorphous structures, a very important role is played by colloidal gels. It has been only recently understood that colloidal gels are the result of the interplay between phase separation and arrest. When short-ranged attractive colloids are quenched i...

Arrested phase separation in reproducing bacteria creates a generic route to pattern formation.

We present a generic mechanism by which reproducing microorganisms, with a diffusivity that depends on the local population density, can form stable patterns. For instance, it is known that a decrease of bacterial motility with density can promote separation into bulk phases of two coexisting densities; this is opposed by the logistic law for birth and death that allows only a single uniform de...

Pentacam opens eyes to new diagnostic possibilities

Europe opens the door to GM crops

Parliament has finally given approval to the commercial growing of genetically modified (GM) crops across the continent. The vote last month backs a new directive that will end a virtual three-year moratorium on granting licenses for the commercial development of GM foods. The standstill followed concerns about the impact of the new crops on the environment. " This is a significant step in term...

Structure that Opens the Gate and Opens the Door

Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to look at it from a different perspective. That is certainly the case in ion channel research. Hodgkin and Huxley must have realized that 50 years ago when they looked at membrane currents with a voltage clamp, and Sakmann and Neher realized it 20 years ago when they measured Possible Symmetries of Tetrameric Channel single-channel currents with the...