Browse Physics

Could thermal conditions have been enough to drive fast RNA replication in prebiotic liquids?

Changes in plant tissue geometry with humidity explain how some species bend and turn to disperse their seeds.

A new method of imaging with second harmonic light allows more general studies of molecules with different orientations.

The scale invariance that has been seen in flocks of birds is showing up in clusters of bacteria.

Large numbers of neurons can, according to a computational model, distinguish the timing of aural cues more finely than individual cells.

Calculations show that a time-varying molecular input signal can induce a more predictable biological response than a constant input.

Bumblebee flight patterns reveal how the presence of spiders causes bees to modify their foraging strategies.

Theoretical models show fractal hierarchical teeth can make joints stronger and more fail-resistant.

DNA flexibility depends on how strands separate, which, in turn, depends on temperature.

Paper pyramids hovering in an oscillating air column enlighten us about the stability of flying insects.

A model explains why, during pregnancy, contractions in the uterus exhibit collective behavior.

A discrepancy between theory and experiment regarding how molecules fold in response to applied forces is resolved.

Corrugations found along the intestine’s inner wall reflect both a mechanical buckling and the constant birth and death of cells, theorists suggest.

Calculations elucidate how the lateral diffusion of macromolecules within a liquid membrane depends on the properties of the solvent layer surrounding it.

By swimming collectively, bacterial cells swim faster than they would in isolation.

Large electric fields, alternating at hundreds of hertz, cause DNA molecules to collapse, the opposite of previous observations that they stretch out at higher and lower frequencies.

Depending on their width, certain ribbon-forming biomolecules assume either twisted or spiral shapes.

Inspired by the way genetic material is stored in a virus, researchers are exploring how densely they can pack elastic wires into a spherical shell.

The swimming motion of organisms in complex fluids is hindered by elasticity.

Subtle differences in how RNA and DNA behave in solutions may lead to better therapies.