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Biological adhesion is a critical mechanical function of complex organisms operating at multiple scales. At the cellular scale, cell-cell adhesion is remarkably tunable to enable both cohesion and malleability during development,…
Flexible mechanical metamaterials possess repeating structural motifs that imbue them with novel, exciting properties including programmability, anomalous elastic moduli and nonlinear and robust response. We address such structures via…
Despite the recent progress on two-dimensional multilayer materials (2DMM) with weak interlayer interactions, the investigation on 2DMM with strong interlayer interactions is far from its sufficiency. Here we report on first-principles…
Soft surfaces, spanning vastly different environmental and biomedical settings, are frequently colonised by surface-associated bacteria. Yet, how soft surfaces govern bacterial dynamics and their self-organisation into colonies remains…
The composite cytoskeleton, comprising interacting networks of semiflexible actin and rigid microtubules, actively generates forces and restructures using motor proteins such as myosins to enable key mechanical processes including cell…
In recent years, new methods have been developed to synthesize complex porous and micro-structured geometry in a variety of ways. In this work, we take these approaches one step further and present these methods as an efficacious design…
Nature uses elongated shapes and filaments to build stable structures, generate motion, and allow complex geometric interactions. In this Review, we examine the role of biological filaments across different length scales. From the molecular…
Gallium-based liquid metals, as a broad category of emerging functional materials with unique physical, chemical, and biological properties, offer numerous possibilities for advancing intelligent systems. However, a basic query persistently…
Liquid mixtures of many interacting components often exhibit numerous coexisting types of droplets. An exciting example is the cytosol of biological cells, where diverse droplets, called condensates, are essential for cellular function.…
A natural embodiment for multifunctional materials combining energy-storing capabilities and structural mechanical properties are layered structures, similar to both laminate structural composites and electrochemical energy storage devices.…
Colloidal molecules are ideal model systems for mimicking real molecules and can serve as versatile building blocks for the bottom-up self-assembly of flexible and smart materials. While most colloidal molecules are rigid objects, the…
The key feature of a memristor is that the resistance is a function of its previous resistance, thereby the behaviour of the device is influenced by changing the way in which potential is applied across it. Ultimately, information can be…
The mussel thread-plaque system exhibits strong adhesion and high ductility, allowing it to adhere to various surfaces. While the microstructure of plaques has been thoroughly studied, the effect of their unique porous structure on…
Composition is a powerful principle for systems biology, focused on the interfaces, interconnections, and orchestration of distributed processes to enable integrative multiscale simulations. Whereas traditional models focus on the structure…
Elastic filaments are vital to biological, physical and engineering systems, from cilia driving fluid in the lungs to artificial swimmers and micro-robotics. Simulating slender structures requires intricate balance of elastic, body, active,…
The crawling motion of Dictyostelium discoideum on substrata involves a number of coordinated events including cell contractions and cell protrusions. The mechanical forces exerted on the substratum during these contractions have recently…
The problem of ring formation in solutions of cylindrical micelles is reinvestigated theoretically, taking into account a finite bending rigidity of the self-assembled linear objects. Transitions between three regimes are found when the…
Functional amyloid fibrils, once primarily associated with amyloidosis, are now recognized for their exceptional potential as biomaterials due to their unique structural features, including remarkable mechanical strength, high stability,…
There is significant interest in modelling the mechanics and physics of growth of soft biological systems such as tumors and bacterial biofilms. Solid tumors account for more than 85% of cancer mortality and bacterial biofilms account for a…
Living cells are soft bodies of a characteristic form, but endowed with a capacity for a steady turnover of their structures. Both of these material properties, i.e. recovery of the shape after an external stress has been imposed and…