Related papers: Mushroom spore dispersal by convectively-driven wi…
Many edible mushrooms eject their spores (about 10 microns in size) at high speed (about 1 m/s) using surface tension forces in a few microseconds. Basically the coalescence of a droplet with the spore generates the necessary momentum to…
Long distance wind dispersal requires small spores with low terminal velocities, which can be held aloft by turbulent air currents until they are deposited in suitable habitats for colonization. The inherent difficulty in dispersing spores…
The fungi disperse spores to move across landscapes and spore liberation takes different patterns. While many species release spores intermittently, others release spores at specific times of day or night according to intrinsic rhythms.…
The forcibly launched spores of the crop pathogen \emph{Sclerotinia sclerotiorum} must eject through many centimeters of nearly still air to reach the flowers of the plants that the fungus infects. Because of their microscopic size,…
The dispersion of plant pathogens, such as rust spores, is responsible for more than 20% of global yield loss annually, and poses a significant threat to human health. However, the release mechanics of pathogens from flexible plant surfaces…
Basidiomycete fungi eject spores using a surface tension catapult; a fluid drop forms at the base of each spore and after reaching a critical size, coalesces with the spore and launches it from the gill surface. Although basidiomycetes…
Pathogenic fungi are a leading cause of crop disease and primarily spread through microscopic, durable spores adapted differentially for both persistence and dispersal. Computational Earth System Models and air pollution models have been…
Gliding is a means of locomotion on rigid substrates utilized by a number of bacteria includingmyxobacteria and cyanobacteria. One of the hypotheses advanced to explain this motility mechanism hinges on the role played by the slime…
Particles moving along curved trajectories will diffuse if the curvature fluctuates sufficiently in either magnitude or orientation. We consider particles moving at a constant speed with either a fixed or with a Gaussian distributed…
Several species of plants have raindrop-sized flowers that catch raindrops opportunistically in order to spread their 0.3-mm seeds distances of over 1 m. In the following fluid dynamics video, we show examples of these plants and some of…
[Abridged] Naturally produced droplets from humans (such as those produced by breathing, talking, sneezing, and coughing) include several types of cells (e.g., epithelial cells and cells of the immune system), physiological electrolytes…
Transport in multiphase flow through porous media plays a central role in many biological, geological, and engineered systems. Here, we use numerical simulations of transport in immiscible two-phase flow to investigate dispersion in…
Infectious diseases spread via pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Airborne pathogen transmission via droplets is an important mode for infectious diseases. In this paper, the spreading mechanism of infectious diseases by airborne…
Understanding flow and transport of bacteria in porous media is crucial to technologies such as bioremediation, biomineralization or enhanced oil recovery. While physicochemical bacteria filtration is well-documented, recent studies showed…
The spread of COVID19 through droplets ejected by infected individuals during sneezing and coughing has been considered as a matter of key concern. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the propagation of droplets containing virus…
How systems are endowed with migration capacity is a fascinating question with implications ranging from the design of novel active systems to the control of microbial populations. Bacteria, which can be found in a variety of environments,…
Food production needs to increase significantly in 30 years, and water loss from plants may hold one key, especially relevant in a time of climate change. The plant leaf cuticle is the final defence of leaves in drought and at night, and so…
How motile bacteria move near a surface is a problem of fundamental biophysical interest and is key to the emergence of several phenomena of biological, ecological and medical relevance, including biofilm formation. Solid boundaries can…
Cord-forming fungi form extensive networks that continuously adapt to maintain an efficient transport system. As osmotically driven water uptake is often distal from the tips, and aqueous fluids are incompressible, we propose that growth…
From footpaths to flight routes, human mobility networks facilitate the spread of communicable diseases. Control and elimination efforts depend on characterizing these networks in terms of connections and flux rates of individuals between…