Physics - Browse Physics

41.

Focus

A Knotty DNA Problem

Phys. Rev. Focus 12, 25 (2003) – Published December 31, 2003

Knots sliding along a single DNA strand may help reveal how cells keep their genes from getting tangled.

42.

Focus

DNA Running Hot and Cold

Phys. Rev. Focus 12, 13 (2003) – Published October 10, 2003

Forcing DNA to flow cyclically through regions of different temperatures causes it to reproduce, demonstrating a possible scenario for the creation of life.

43.

Focus

The Attraction of Like Charges

Phys. Rev. Focus 12, 3 (2003) – Published July 21, 2003

Experiments help explain a poorly understood phenomenon: the attraction of giant, like-charged molecules in water.

44.

Focus

Blurring Clarifies Cell Movements

Phys. Rev. Focus 11, 22 (2003) – Published May 21, 2003

An out-of-focus microscope captures moving ripples on a cell surface.

45.

Focus

All Twisted Up

Phys. Rev. Focus 11, 12 (2003) – Published March 28, 2003

Twist may play an essential role in stabilizing the fibers that distort red blood cells in patients with sickle cell disease.

46.

Focus

Entropy Gives DNA a Shove

Phys. Rev. Focus 9, 15 (2002) – Published March 19, 2002

DNA molecules squirt from a confined space into an open one under the propulsion of entropy alone.

47.

Focus

Unexpected Rhythms May Reveal How Nerves Connect

Phys. Rev. Focus 9, 14 (2002) – Published March 15, 2002

Networks of nerve cells show patterns of activity characteristic of self-organizing systems.

48.

Focus

One-Way Heat Traffic

Phys. Rev. Focus 9, 11 (2002) – Published February 26, 2002

A proposed ‘thermal rectifier’ would conduct heat preferentially in one direction.

49.

Focus

A Cellular Glass Menagerie

Phys. Rev. Focus 8, 16 (2001) – Published September 24, 2001

The springiness of living cells is like that of glasses.

50.

Focus

DNA Need Not Unzip

Phys. Rev. Focus 7, 19 (2001) – Published April 20, 2001

Two DNA segments with identical sequences may attract one another as part of the cell’s repair system.

51.

Focus

Flexibility of Cell Membranes

Phys. Rev. Focus 7, 9 (2001) – Published February 23, 2001

A new technique measures the mechanical properties of cell membranes by watching the motion of small beads attached to 20-micrometer-diameter bubbles of membrane surrounded by a layer of protein.

52.

Focus

Imaging the Heart’s Blood Supply

Phys. Rev. Focus 4, 25 (1999) – Published November 12, 1999

A new thoery describes the relationship between MRI data and blood flow to the heart muscle.

53.

Focus

Equations for an Embryo

Phys. Rev. Focus 4, 20 (1999) – Published October 19, 1999

A team of physicists has developed a mathematical model of cell differentiation that reproduces some phenomena biologists have observed in real fly eyes.

54.

Focus

Breaking Single Protein Bonds

Phys. Rev. Focus 4, 4 (1999) – Published July 21, 1999

Biophysicists have shown that the rate of stretching determines the mechanical strength of a bond and have measured that strength in both the spontaneous and force-induced bond breaking regimes.

55.

Focus

Separating the Good Hearts from the Bad

Phys. Rev. Focus 2, 12 (1998) – Published September 15, 1998

56.

Focus

Motor Proteins Move on Metal

Phys. Rev. Focus 1, 15 (1998) – Published May 21, 1998