Mastodawn

A long-theorized material has become reality: DNA-based Olympic gels. Their structure is stabilized not by chemical crosslinks, but by mechanically interlocked molecular rings. A striking example of how geometry and topology shape material behavior.

🔗 https://phys.org/news/2026-04-olympic-gels-theorized-class-dna.html

#SoftMatter #Topology #DNA #Polymers #Physics

Researchers create Olympic gels, a long-theorized class of DNA-based soft materials

An interdisciplinary research team led by Dr. Elisha Krieg at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF) has successfully synthesized and characterized Olympic gels, a long-theorized class of soft materials. Unlike conventional gels, which are held together by chemical crosslinks, Olympic gels derive their structural stability from the mechanical interlocking of ring-shaped molecules, similar to chain mail.

Phys.org

LeidenForce 2d ago

A linear programming method extracts individual hard-sphere sizes from blurred microscopy videos, reaching sub-0.1% error without prior knowledge of size distribution. Works from short noisy trajectories.

🔗 https://doi.org/10.1103/x7d9-9w3x

#Colloids #SoftMatter #Microscopy #Optimization #ComplexSystems

LeidenForce May 28

What do boat wakes and biological tissues have in common? A new study shows that ultrasoft solids support wake patterns similar to fluids, opening new possibilities for probing soft materials through surface waves.

🔗 https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ship-soft-tissues-exploring-fluid.html

#SoftMatter #WavePhysics #Biophysics #FluidMechanics #MaterialsScience

From ship wakes to soft tissues: Exploring fluid and solid surface-wave physics

A new study by scientists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) shows that when a pressure disturbance moves across an ultrasoft elastic material, such as a gel or a biological tissue, it generates a V-shaped wake that's strikingly similar to the waves that travel behind a boat.

Phys.org

Ruben May 27

Today, five years ago at 11:15 sharp, I successfully defended my PhD thesis. I’m not usually one to celebrate an anniversary. But because this one has taken me by surprise—by how much time has flown—I thought it’d be nice to mark the occassion. I've made a mostly visual summary of my thesis to celebrate:

https://kedara.eu/colloidal-systems/

#Colloids #SoftMatter #Physics #PhD #BrownianMotion #BlogPost

LeidenForce May 27

Why can some fluids harden under impact?

Researchers tracked millimeter-sized cornstarch droplets hitting a surface and uncovered three distinct impact regimes, including a surprising liquid-to-solid transition during spreading.

🔗 https://phys.org/news/2026-04-droplet-impacts-reveal-physics-thickening.html

#Physics #FluidMechanics #SoftMatter #Rheology #ImpactDynamics

Droplet impacts reveal surprising physics in shear-thickening fluids

From ketchup to quicksand, non-Newtonian fluids have long fascinated and puzzled scientists. Unlike ordinary fluids, their flow properties change depending on how much force is applied, but the precise mechanics governing this behavior remain poorly understood—particularly under rapid deformation. Now, a team led by Xiang Cheng at the University of Minnesota has used droplet impacts to probe these dynamics in new detail, uncovering behaviors which have eluded physicists so far. Their findings appear in Physical Review Letters.

Phys.org

LeidenForce May 7

A cornstarch-water droplet can behave like a liquid and a solid at the same time, depending on how it is stressed.

High-speed imaging reveals how these “oobleck” drops reshape on impact, highlighting the surprising physics of shear-thickening fluids.

🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01109-3

#FluidDynamics #SoftMatter #Rheology #ComplexFluids #physics

Liquid or solid? Oobleck droplets are both

High-speed cameras can observe the strange behaviour of a cornstarch–water mixture.

LeidenForce May 5

What looks like a simple bubble can become a delivery system. New materials store therapeutic gases and release them through controlled interfacial dynamics.

🔗 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aef9968

#Fluids #Interfaces #SoftMatter #DrugDelivery #Physics

LeidenForce May 5

Liquids are usually expected to flow continuously. But under strong extensional stress, viscosity alone can trigger sudden, fracture-like failure.

Could this help control flows in hydraulics, 3D printing, or even blood vessels?

🔗 https://phys.org/news/2026-03-liquids-fracture-solids.html

#FluidMechanics #Rheology #SoftMatter #FracturePhysics #Biofluidics

Liquids can fracture like solids—researchers discover the breaking point

In a development that could shift our basic understanding of fluid mechanics, researchers from Drexel University have reported that, given the right circumstances, it is possible to induce a simple liquid to fracture like a solid object. Recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the research shows how viscous liquids can suddenly break if stretched with enough force.

Phys.org

LeidenForce Apr 24

Plant-based milks aren’t simple liquids. Most behave as non-Newtonian fluids, flowing more easily under stress due to tiny amounts of added gums.

A reminder that everyday fluids can hide complex physics.

🔗 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2521037-the-weird-physics-of-plant-based-milks-is-only-just-coming-to-light/

#NonNewtonian #FluidDynamics #SoftMatter #EverydayPhysics #foodscience