Browse Physics

The circular swimming motion of self-propelled, L-shaped microparticles may provide insight into microorganisms that are similarly lacking in symmetry.

Experiments probe how specific base-pair sequences within a DNA strand behave when the molecule is twisted.

The composition of cells in tissues can be found using statistical fluctuations of cell types.

Hairlike sensory cells in our ears may detect weak auditory signals through a synchronization process, according to new experiments.

When exposed to light, swimming microalgae converge to the center of a pipe—a behavior that could prove advantageous for certain industrial uses of these organisms.

The efficient functioning of the brain cortex relies on a highly interconnected set of neuronal columns, which includes enough links between the most distant columns.

A statistical model favors an unexpected mechanism for avoiding duplicated genetic material in certain viruses.

Two different mechanisms give a protein its required flexibility.

Experiments explain how DNA strands can be captured at their extremities by nanoscale pores.

Flagella on the surface of a multicellular alga can beat in an unexpectedly synchronized fashion.

A nanowalker made of DNA moves along biomolecules without chemically altering them.

A new model of DNA is able to reproduce the observed features of self-organizing nanostructures in DNA origami.

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.

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

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

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

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

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