Browse Physics

A new model of molecular motors working in unison finds that motor-motor interactions can boost the efficiency of the system.

Simulations on neural networks show that one single neuronal spike in a sequence of billions can affect how information is processed.

Tubulelike structures form when multiple nanoparticles adhere to the inner or outer surfaces of a spherical membrane.

Orderly flow in fluid extracted from a living cell results from the spontaneous organization of randomly-oriented, microscopic forces.

The protein shells surrounding large viruses have built-in tension that determines their shapes.

With a simple ball and stick model, theorists explain how the two flagella on a swimming alga become synchronized.

The atomic force microscope, introduced in 1986, provided atomic-scale pictures of surfaces, with few limitations on the type of sample.

Optical microscopes can be adapted to measure the mass of individual cells.

Measurements with live retinal rod cells reveal their capacity for detecting the statistical properties of different light sources.

Experiments can see how motor proteins direct the movements of the cell’s cytoskeleton in a fluctuating environment.

Drug gradients may give bacteria an evolutionary boost towards antibiotic resistance.

Fluorescence imaging of single molecules combined with computer simulations suggest that a crowded cytoplasm may reduce the measured protein mobility in cells.

Experiments show that the times required to cross the barrier for the folding and unfolding of different nucleic acids are consistently about a few microseconds, despite many orders of magnitude differences in rate coefficients.

Advances in magnetic resonance spectroscopy could remedy the problems caused by movement or unstable fields during a scan.

Models show how the length of filaments in cells can be tightly controlled by balancing continual growth with shrinkage caused by molecular motors.

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.

The binding of two proteins is strongest in regions where the packing of surrounding water molecules is already disrupted.

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.