Volume 6 Issue 4, April 2024

Vertebrate hearing uses mechanosensory cells operating near an oscillatory instability. Physics reveals how this mechanism might have evolved from ‘chance and necessity’.

The science of food is strongly connected to chemistry and sensory science, but chewing and swallowing is also governed by soft matter physics as it involves processing materials that are deformable, easily fractured or that melt at low temperatures. What can physics tell us about these processes, and what questions remain?

Thierry Emonet and Massimo Vergassola discuss what research shows about how animals perform the feat of navigating by smell.

Mónica Bello, Curator and Head of Arts at CERN talks about the programmes that have been fostering the dialogue between artists and physicists for over a decade with the aim of exploring the cultural significance of fundamental research.

Developing photodetectors that work across the electromagnetic spectrum remains a challenge, and there are many trade-offs to be considered, including speed, efficiency, noise, spectral detection range and cost. This Review discusses the photophysical attributes of the active materials that define the interrelated aspects of response amplitude and temporal dynamics in photodetectors.

Similar to acoustic and electromagnetic waves, water waves are classical waves that can be controlled by artificial structures such as water wave crystals and metamaterials. This Review surveys the development of water wave manipulation using artificial structures and describes its potential applications.

Structure and function of biological tissues are closely intertwined. This Review surveys the challenges in uncovering critical physical elements involved in the mechanical regulation of curved tissues across different length scales and examines how changes in curvature influence cell functions.

This Review summarizes differences in several mechanical properties that play a role in human cancer development, at the cell and tissue levels. Comprehensive cell and tissue quantitative mechanical properties are provided based on cancer types and organs of origin.