Lipid droplets ensure their own consumption H ungry yeast cells use a clever form of recycling to ensure that they can keep consuming stored lipids, Wang et al. show. Lean times spur yeast cells to enter a quiescent state known as the stationary phase. They break down cached lipids by delivering lipid droplets to the vacuole and resort to autophagy, in which they digest a portion of their own c...

Droplets of one liquid suspended in a second, immiscible liquid move through a microfluidic device in which a channel splits into two branches that reconnect downstream. The droplets choose a path based on the number of droplets that occupy each branch. The interaction among droplets in the channels results in complex sequences of path selection. The linearity of the flow through the microchann...

Aerosol particles in the atmosphere are important participants in the formation of cloud droplets and have significant impact on cloud albedo and global climate. According to the Köhler theory which describes the nucleation and the equilibrium growth of cloud droplets, the surface tension of an aerosol droplet is one of the most important factors that determine the critical supersaturation of d...

Amphiphilic inducer molecules such as N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones (AHLs) or isopropyl-β-D-thio-galactopyranoside (IPTG) can be utilized for the implementation of an artificial communication system between groups of E. coli bacteria encapsulated within water-in-oil microemulsion droplets. Using spatially extended arrays of microdroplets, we study the diffusion of both AHL and IPTG from inducer-...

Spatially defined arrays of droplets differ from bulk emulsions in that droplets in arrays can be indexed on the basis of one or more spatial variables to enable identification, monitoring, and addressability of individual droplets. Spatial indexing is critical in experiments with hundreds to millions of unique compartmentalized microscale processes--for example, in applications such as digital...

A computational heat and mass transfer model of ceramic precursor solution containing droplets injected into a combustion flame is presented. Upon heat-up and vaporization, the precursor in droplets precipitate and ultimately form the ceramic material. Temperature and solute concentration distributions were computed to estimate the precipitation zones within droplets based on a simple homogeneo...

We introduce multi-gradients including Laplace pressure gradient, wettable gradient and wettable different gradient on a high adhesion surface via special wedge-pattern and improved anodic oxidation method. As a result of the cooperative effect mentioned above, controlled directional motion of a droplet on a high adhesion surface is realized, even when the surface is turned upside down. The dro...

We use droplet-based microfluidic techniques to produce monodisperse poly(Nisopropylacrylamide) gel particles in the size range of 10--1000 mm. Our techniques offer exquisite control over both outer dimensions and inner morphology of the particles. We demonstrate this control by fabricating conventional microgels, microgels with embedded materials and voids, and gel microcapsules with singleand...

OK, they are cute, but why should a developmental biologist care about them? Onset of calcification early in ontogeny coupled with gradual, progressive morphological development permits the recognition of growth sequences for over a hundred trilobite species. Striking variation in the number of trunk segments at maturity across ontogeny and phylogeny, coupled with the curious pattern of segment...

Transmission of respiratory infectious diseases in humans, for instance influenza, occurs by several modes. Respiratory droplets provide a vector of transmission of an infectious pathogen that may contribute to different transmission modes. An epidemiological model incorporating the dynamics of inhalable respiratory droplets is developed to assess their relevance in the infectious process. Inha...