https://phys.org/physics-news/soft-matter en-us The latest news on soft matter, soft condensed matter, liquids, colloids, polymers, foams, gels, granular materials Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have uncovered the physics behind how foams spread on surfaces. The scientists placed balls of foam on a flat substrate and then scraped across it with a plate. They identified different patterns that strongly depended on the scraping speed, which was governed by competing physical phenomena. Their findings can be applied to all types of soft materials that need to be spread evenly on surfaces, from mayonnaise on bread to insulation on walls. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-uncover-foams-surfaces.html Soft Matter Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:21:03 EDT news610024862 Researchers at the University of Twente have developed a theoretical method for designing fluidic networks that has direct applications for scientists and engineers. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-minimal-energy-loss-smart-fluidic.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 21 Jul 2023 09:54:03 EDT news609152041 A team of physicists at Université Paris-Saclay has, for the first time, observed spontaneous quasi-crystal self-assembly. The observation occurred during an experiment they were conducting with tiny vibrating magnetic spheres. The team has written a paper describing their experiment and have posted it on the arXiv preprint server while they await peer review. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-spontaneous-quasi-crystal-self-assembly-tiny-vibrating.html Condensed Matter Soft Matter Wed, 19 Jul 2023 12:10:01 EDT news608986975 Molecules immersed in liquid helium can probe superfluidity since their electronic, vibrational and rotational dynamics can provide valuable cues about the superfluid at the nanoscale. In a new report in Science Advances, Alexander Milner and a team of scientists in physics and astronomy, and chemistry at the University of British Columbia, Canada and the University of California, Irvine, U.S., described an experimental study of laser-induced rotation of helium dimers inside a superfluid helium bath at various temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-dynamics-molecular-rotors-bulk-superfluid.html Soft Matter Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:40:01 EDT news608981504 Self-sustained levitation of millimeter-sized droplets was recently discovered by researchers at Tyumen State University, in Russia, during an experiment to select combinations of immiscible liquids, which don't form homogeneous mixtures. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-droplet-levitation-explore-airborne-viruses.html Soft Matter Tue, 18 Jul 2023 11:00:02 EDT news608893904 Experiments at the unique wind tunnel of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) in Göttingen show that laws formulated more than 80 years ago and their extensions only incompletely explain turbulent flows. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-year-old-principles-incompletely-turbulent.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 13 Jul 2023 08:47:32 EDT news608456848 Inspired by the need to safeguard marine animals and promote sustainable solutions within marine environments, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and Sofia University in Bulgaria are delving into the hydrodynamics of buoyant objects at the air-water interface. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-stones-uncover-dynamics-buoyant-spheres.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 13 Jul 2023 07:04:03 EDT news608450641 Compared to artificial tears, or eye drops, human tears are significantly more complex liquids, with a wide range of components including lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, water, and salt. It is this complex mixture that gives tears the perfect thickness and ability to moisturize the eye, a design that is hard to replicate with fewer ingredients. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-microrheology-custom-eye.html Soft Matter Thu, 13 Jul 2023 03:00:43 EDT news608436037 When cooled to their freezing point, most liquids become solids or crystallize. In other words, the molecules arrange themselves in a perfectly ordered fashion, which physicists call a crystal. Supercooled liquids are different; they do not form such crystals even if they are cooled below their freezing point. These liquids are used in many industries, but a thorough understanding of their properties is lacking. Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) researchers now reveal the most realistic description of their properties to date, using—as a first-time—four body correlation functions. The work is published in the journal PNAS Nexus. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-unraveling-super-complex-supercooled-liquids.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 03 Jul 2023 16:50:13 EDT news607621808 A block of rubber that can count to ten and even remember the order in which it is pressed—physicists Martin van Hecke and Lennard Kwakernaak (Leiden University and AMOLF Amsterdam) have published about this latest metamaterial in the journal Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-physicists-metamaterial.html Soft Matter Mon, 03 Jul 2023 09:48:08 EDT news607596485 Simple molecular liquids such as water or glycerol are of great importance for technical applications, in biology or even for understanding properties in the liquid state. Researchers at the Max Planck Institut für Struktur und Dynamik der Materie (MPSD) have now succeeded in observing liquid glycerol in a completely unexpected rubbery state. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-rubber-like-elasticity-liquid-glycerol.html Soft Matter Tue, 27 Jun 2023 12:00:03 EDT news607086001 With their unique appearance, texture, and mouthfeel, fondants have intrigued bakers and physicists for years. They present an appetizing enigma in the world of confectionery, an intriguing combination of sugar, water, and heat that, when manipulated correctly, yields a delectably creamy product. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-fondant-thermodynamics.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 27 Jun 2023 11:00:02 EDT news607073605 When the skies above Palo Alto darkened with smoke from the Camp Fire in 2018, Stanford researcher Hayoon Chung was in a fluid mechanics lab on campus studying how ocean currents flowed over patches of seagrass. She wondered if patterns similar to the ones she observed in her lab experiments might exist in the rapid and seemingly random spread of the nearby wildfires. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-wildfire-treetops.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 27 Jun 2023 09:56:41 EDT news607078596 Penguins aren't just cute: they're also speedy. Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming birds in the world, and that ability comes from their unique and sophisticated wings. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-penguin-propulsion-physics-world-fastest.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:00:06 EDT news606470670 Turbulence, a fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in flow velocity and pressure, has been the topic of countless physics studies. Although turbulence is a very common phenomenon that occurs in nature, manipulating it and controlling its properties had so far proved incredibly challenging. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-approach-properties-turbulence.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:58:07 EDT news606470282 Turbulence is all around us. It's in the swirl of coffee and milk in a latte, unfurling along the wings of airplanes and the sides of cars, churning the blood in your heart after the valve snaps closed. Yet we still don't fully grasp all of its rules. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-tempest-teacup-physicists-breakthrough-turbulence.html General Physics Soft Matter Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:37:03 EDT news606051421 In the early 2000s, scientists from the UK made a worrisome discovery that the oceans are teeming with small particles of plastic (less than one millimeter in length) due to the continuous degradation of plastic waste. These microscopic particles of plastic have become a major environmental concern. Scientists classify these small particles as either microplastics or nanoplastics based on their size; the latter term is used exclusively for particles smaller than one micrometer. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-technique-colloidal-particle-degradation-real.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:53:05 EDT news605980382 Research shows humans might inhale about 16.2 bits of microplastic every hour, which is equivalent to a credit card over an entire week. And these microplastics—tiny debris in the environment generated from the degradation of plastic products—usually contain toxic pollutants and chemicals. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microplastics-human-airways.html Soft Matter Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:00:03 EDT news605868457 A major stumbling block in our understanding of glass and glass phenomena is the elusive relationship between relaxation dynamics and glass structure. A team led by Dr. Qiaoshi Zeng from HPSTAR recently developed a new in situ high-pressure wide-angle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy method to enable atomic-scale relaxation dynamics studies in metallic glass systems under extreme pressures. The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://phys.org/news/2023-06-spectroscopy-method-reveals-dynamics-compressed.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Wed, 07 Jun 2023 12:29:03 EDT news605359741 Scientists from the University of Tsukuba obtained a new theoretical equation for the propagation of ultrasonic waves through liquids containing encapsulated bubbles. They found that including the compressibility of the bubble shell was vital for accurately predicting the behavior of sound waves. This work may lead to improved resolution of ultrasound imaging based on the development of improved contrast agents. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-propagation-ultrasonic-liquids-encapsulated.html General Physics Soft Matter Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:18:03 EDT news604930681 Osaka Metropolitan University scientists investigated numerically the interaction between a quantized vortex and a normal fluid. Based on the experimental results, researchers decided the most consistent of several theoretical models. They found that a model that accounts for changes in the normal fluid and incorporates more theoretically accurate mutual friction is the most compatible with the experimental results. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-interaction-quantized-vortices-fluids.html Soft Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:01:03 EDT news604832461 In biomedical technology, tissue engineering for the ex-vivo production of skin or organs is becoming increasingly important. This requires biocompatible microfibers with enclosed microcapsules of controlled size and shape, as the cells used for tissue engineering must be embedded in material that is as similar as possible to the natural arrangement in vivo. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-biocompatible-microfibers-basis-tissue.html Soft Matter Fri, 26 May 2023 10:07:00 EDT news604314415 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals emitted as gases that can have adverse health effects. They are often found in paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants, among other common products, but they can also act as markers of explosives, insect infestation, food spoilage, and disease. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-electronic-noses-volatile-compounds.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 23 May 2023 11:00:01 EDT news604053717 The soft, solid-like properties of colloidal gels are essential in fields such as food and medical applications, but how these properties manifest themselves is a long-standing mystery. Until now, it was believed that the solid nature of gels emerges through glass formation. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-reveal-mechanism-colloidal-gels-differs.html Soft Matter Tue, 23 May 2023 10:05:18 EDT news604055116 When most people think of crystals, they picture suncatchers that act as rainbow prisms or the semi-transparent stones that some believe hold healing powers. However, to scientists and engineers, crystals are a form of materials in which their constituents—atoms, molecules, or nanoparticles—are arranged regularly in space. In other words, crystals are defined by the regular arrangement of their constituents. Common examples are diamonds, table salt, or sugar cubes. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-crystals.html Soft Matter Thu, 18 May 2023 15:21:21 EDT news603642077 For gummy candies, texture might be even more important than taste. Biting into a hard, stale treat is disappointing, even if it still carries a burst of sweetness. Keeping gummies in good condition depends on their formulation and storage, both of which alter how the molecules in the candies link together. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-exploring-physics-gummy-candy.html Soft Matter Tue, 16 May 2023 11:00:01 EDT news603452034 A team of physicists has discovered a new role for a specific type of turbulence—a finding that sheds light on fluid flows ranging from the Earth's liquid core to boiling water. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-physicists-temperature-fluid-role-turbulence.html General Physics Soft Matter Mon, 15 May 2023 15:00:01 EDT news603362500 Espresso coffee is brewed by first grinding roasted coffee beans into grains. Hot water then forces its way through a bed of coffee grains at high pressure, and the soluble content of the coffee grains dissolves into the water (extraction) to produce espresso. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-flavor-coffee.html General Physics Soft Matter Tue, 09 May 2023 11:00:04 EDT news602845859 Surfactants play an important role in every day life, for instance as major components in soaps. Since they feature hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts in their structure, they accumulate at water interfaces with air and can there influence the rate of evaporation of the solution or the efficiency with which gas molecules are taken up by the solution, a process that is for instance important for the incorporation of carbon dioxide into the oceans. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-ngstrom-depth-resolution-chemical-specificity-liquid-vapor.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Mon, 08 May 2023 10:42:25 EDT news602761340 Here are some scientific findings worthy of a toast: Researchers from Brown University and the University of Toulouse in France have explained why bubbles in champagne fizz up in a straight line while bubbles in other carbonated drinks, like beer or soda, don't. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-champagne-straight-trajectory.html Soft Matter Wed, 03 May 2023 11:00:07 EDT news602322054