Monday, March 31, 2014
Synthetic Biologists Design 'Living Materials' That Build Themselves
"Organisms are master builders. Crabs assemble shells, corals amass reefs, and our own tissues build bone. Now, synthetic biologists are taking control of the construction process. Researchers in Massachusetts reported this week in Nature Materials that they've reprogrammed the genetic circuitry of bacteria to construct electronic and optical materials, complete with living cells in their midst." Full news article @ Science
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Swarming in Biological and Related Systems
"In the last 15 years, the collective motion of large numbers of self-propelled objects has become an increasingly active area of research. The examples of such collective motion abound: flocks of birds, schools of fish, swarms of insects, herds of animals etc. Swarming of living creatures is believed to be critical for the population survival under harsh conditions [...]n this focus issue we have tried to assemble papers from leading experts which we hope will provide a current snapshot of this young and rapidly expanding field of research. They cover both theoretical and experimental investigations of the dynamics of active matter on different spatial and temporal scales". Special Issue @New Journal of Physics
Monday, March 03, 2014
Autonomous drones flock like birds
"Copters can arrange in formation and coordinate flight patterns without central control." Full news report @ Nature.
