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Biohybrid robots on the micrometer scale can swim through the body and deliver drugs to tumors or provide other cargo-carrying functions. To be successful, they must consist of materials that can pass through the body’s immune response, swim quickly through viscous environments and penetrate tissue cells to deliver cargo. In this week’s APL Bioengineering, researchers fabricated biohybrid bacterial microswimmers by combining a genetically engineered E. coli MG1655 substrain and nanoerythrosomes, small structures made from red blood cells.

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Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have discovered how to make bottles empty faster, which has wide-ranging implications for many areas beyond the beverage industry. In this week’s Physics of Fluids, they explore this bottle-emptying phenomenon from the perspective of bubble dynamics on a commercial bottle by using high-speed photography. Image analysis allowed them to conceptualize various parameters, such as liquid film thickness, bubble aspect ratio, rise velocity and bottle emptying modes.

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In this week’s Chaos, researchers use a theoretical model to examine what effect extreme views have on making the entire system more polarized. The group’s network-based model extends a popular approach for studying opinion dynamics, called the Cobb model, and is based on the hypothesis that those with opinions farther from the middle of a political spectrum are also less influenced by others, a trait known to social scientists as “rigidity of the extreme.”

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Peering into the darkness to see what we could not previously see, the Hubble Space Telescope has been delighting scientists and the general public with revealing details and images of galaxies and celestial phenomena. The American Institute of Physics recognizes and celebrates the momentous occasion of the 30th anniversary of its launch and Physics Today is highlighting the anniversary in its April issue with a look back at the history of the telescope and analysis of Hubble’s discoveries over the past 30 years.

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Using the same technology that allows high-frequency signals to travel on regular phone lines, researchers tested sending extremely high-frequency, 200 GHz signals through a pair of copper wires. The result is a link that can move data at rates of terabits per second, significantly faster than currently available channels. In Applied Physics Letters, the scientists discuss their work using experimental measurements and mathematical modeling to characterize the input and output signals in a waveguide.

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Mapping the electrical conductivity of the heart would be a valuable tool in diagnosis and disease management, but doing so would require invasive procedures, which aren’t capable of directly mapping dielectric properties. Significant advances have recently been made that leverage atomic magnetometers to provide a direct picture of electric conductivity of biological tissues, and in Applied Physics Letters, new work in quantum sensors points to ways such technology could be used to examine the heart.

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The field of “brain-mimicking” neuromorphic electronics shows great potential for basic research and commercial applications, and researchers in Germany and Switzerland recently explored the possibility of reproducing the physics of real neural circuits by using the physics of silicon. In Applied Physics Letters, they present their work to understand neural processing systems, as well as a recipe to reproduce these computing principles in mixed signal analog/digital electronics and novel materials.

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Biohydrogels have been studied closely for their potential use in biomedical applications, but they often move between sols and gels, depending on their temperature, changes that can pose issues depending on the intended use. In Physics of Fluids, researchers discuss their work studying the effect of temperature on hydrogels. They found that creating hydrogels at room temperature or below results in more robust materials that function more effectively when used in the body.

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Proteins are the building blocks of life and scientists have long studied how to improve them or design new ones. Traditionally, new proteins are created by mimicking existing proteins or manually editing their amino acids. This process is time-consuming, and it is difficult to predict the impact of changing an amino acid. In APL Bioengineering, researchers explore how to create new proteins by using machine learning to translate protein structures into musical scores, presenting an unusual way to translate physics concepts across domains.

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The American Institute of Physics is accepting nominations for the 2020 AIP Science Communication Awards through March 31, 2020. Four awards will be given for the best science writing in books; magazine, newspaper or online articles; children's books and other works intended for children; and broadcast and online. Works should be intended for a general audience and will be judged on their ability to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of physics and related fields.

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In an abundance of caution, American Institute of Physics employees will be working remotely beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, to reduce potential exposure to the coronavirus. AIP will transition to remote work until further notice. AIP staff will be available and working on their normal duties during this period, and the building where AIP is housed, the American Center for Physics, will remain open but unavailable to visitors.

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Stanford University researchers created an inverse design codebase called SPINS that can help researchers explore different design methodologies to find fabricable optical and nanophotonic structures. In the journal Applied Physics Reviews, Logan Su and colleagues review inverse design’s potential for optical and nanophotonic structures, as well as present and explain how to use their own inverse design codebase.

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Researchers created a platform to observe stem cell-derived neurons grow toward muscle cells, representing a critical milestone towards the realization of future biohybrid machines. In tiny biorobots using muscle cells as actuators, the ability to tune parameters would allow more precise designs with desirable characteristics and predictable behaviors for intelligent drug delivery, environment sensing, biohybrid blood circulation pumps and other uses. But big questions remain about future experiments.

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A review of recent work in biophysics highlights efforts in cellular engineering, ranging from proteins to cellular components to tissues grown on next-generation chips. Author Ngan Huang said the fast pace of development prompted her and her colleagues to take stock of promising areas in the field as well as hurdles researchers can expect in coming years. They discuss their work in this week’s APL Bioengineering.

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In many coastal zones and gorges, unstable cliffs often fail when the foundation rock beneath them is crushed. Large water waves can be created, threatening human safety. In this week’s Physics of Fluids, scientists reveal the mechanism by which these cliffs collapse, and how large, tsunami-like waves are created. Few experimental studies of this phenomenon have been carried out, so this work represents valuable new data that can be used to protect from impending disaster.

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At the American Physical Society March Meeting in Denver, five members of the TEAM-UP task force, chartered and funded by the American Institute of Physics, will outline how faculties, departments and professional societies can promote sweeping changes in physics higher education. Evidence-based recommendations from AIP’s TEAM-UP report will be discussed to highlight the need for increasing the number of African American students obtaining bachelor’s degrees in physics and astronomy.

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A new type of battery combines negative capacitance and negative resistance within the same cell, allowing the cell to self-charge without losing energy, which has important implications for long-term storage and improved output power for batteries. In Applied Physics Reviews, researchers at the University of Porto and the University of Texas at Austin report making their very simple battery with two different metals, as electrodes and a lithium or sodium glass electrolyte between them.

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People rely on a highly tuned sense of touch to manipulate objects, but injuries to the skin and the simple act of wearing gloves can impair this ability. In this week’s Applied Physics Reviews, scientists report the development of a new tactile-enhancement system based on a highly sensitive sensor. The sensor has remarkable sensitivity, allowing the wearer to detect the light brush of a feather. This crack-based sensor was inspired by a spider’s slit organ.

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Male tufted golden orb weaver spiders pull out all the stops when trying to court a female, including offering up their own legs to their potential mates for the sake of love. A recent Inside Science article outlines this unique mating technique, which involves a bit of cannibalism in order win over a lady friend.

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Photonic integration has focused on communications applications traditionally fabricated on silicon chips, because these are less expensive and more easily manufactured, and researchers are exploring promising new waveguide platforms that provide these same benefits for applications that operate in the ultraviolet to the infrared spectrum. These platforms enable a broader range of applications, such as spectroscopy for chemical sensing, precision metrology and computation. A paper in APL Photonics provides a perspective of the field.

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Testing for Duchenne muscular dystrophy can require specialized equipment, invasive procedures and high expense, but measuring changes in muscle function and identifying compensatory walking gait could lead to earlier detection. This week in Chaos, researchers present a relative coupling coefficient, which can be used to quantify the factors involved in the human gait and more accurately screen for the disorder. They measured movements of different parts of the body in test subjects, viewing the body as a kinematic chain.

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Acquiring a better understanding for how objects drift in the ocean has importance for many uses, but most models lack a systematic approach. One new effort looks to provide a clearer alternative. Researchers have released the results from an experiment aimed at tracking different objects as they drift in the Florida Current. Using satellite data, the group developed a new model for how objects drift. They discuss their work in this week’s Physics of Fluids.

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Motor-related brain activity is of great interest to researchers looking for a better way to improve neurorehabilitation, and one factor to consider is the suppression of the specific rhythmic activity of neurons within the sensorimotor cortex of the brain. Studies indicate this feature suffers from variability when using traditional methods to explore it. In the journal Chaos, scientists in Russia are approaching the problem from a different angle to search for a more robust feature of brain activity associated with accomplishing motor tasks.

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Over the past few decades, Iowa’s agriculture has experienced a period of consistently high yields. The perfect distribution and timing of humidity, rainfall and heat have led to bumper crops of corn and soybeans. This “Goldilocks” period is partly due to global warming, but experts believe farmers shouldn’t expect it to last. In Physics Today, scientists Eugene Takle and William Gutowski describe the challenges farmers could expect to see to maintaining high yields if global warming continues along predicted trends.

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Most nuclear data measurements are performed at accelerators large enough to occupy a geologic formation a kilometer wide. But a portable device that can reveal the composition of materials quickly on-site would greatly benefit cases such as in archaeology and nuclear arms treaty verification. Research published this week in AIP Advances used computational simulations to show that with the right geometric adjustments, it is possible to perform accurate neutron resonance transmission analysis in a device just 5 meters long.

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Due to its affordability and environmental friendliness, hydrogen is a feasible alternative to fossil fuels for energy applications. However, due to its low density, hydrogen is difficult to transport efficiently, and many on-board hydrogen generation methods are slow and energy intensive.

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Scientists report on a mathematical model for the formation of amyloid fibrils. The model sheds light on how the aggregation process can occur in a catalytic manner, something that has not been previously well understood.

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Researchers review the state of the art in magnetic nanostructures. One especially interesting advance involves an exotic nanodisc configuration, known as a vortex state, where magnetic moments arrange into a curly geometry.

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Predicting a major transition, such as climate change, is extremely difficult, but the probabilistic framework developed by the authors is the first step in identifying the path between a shift in two environmental states.

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Recent studies have shown metallic objects have their own magnetic fingerprints based on size, shape and physical composition. In AIP Advances, from AIP Publishing, scientists look to leverage these observations to potentially create a smaller and cheaper system that is just as effective as their larger counterparts.

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The American Institute of Physics is accepting submissions for the 2020 AIP Science Communication Awards. The awards were established in 1968 to recognize the best examples of science writing in the previous year. Entries should be intended for a general audience and will be judged on their ability to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of physics and related fields. The four categories are books; magazine, newspaper or online articles; writing for children; and broadcast and new media productions. The deadline for entries is March 31, 2020.

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Traditional methods of vacuum suction and previous vacuum suction devices cannot maintain suction on rough surfaces due to vacuum leakage, which leads to suction failure. Researchers Xin Li and Kaige Shi developed a zero-pressure difference method to enhance the development of vacuum suction units. Their method overcame leakage limitations by using a high-speed rotating water ring between the surface and suction cup to maintain the vacuum. They discuss their work in Physics of Fluids.

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Since 1947, computing development has seen a consistent doubling of the number of transistors that can fit on a chip. But that trend, Moore’s Law, may reach its limit as components of submolecular size encounter problems with thermal noise, making further scaling impossible. In this week’s Applied Physics Reviews, researchers present an examination of the computing landscape, focusing on functions needed to advance brain-inspired neuromorphic computing.

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Researchers in China demonstrated a robotic gripping mechanism that mimics how a sea anemone catches its prey. The bionic torus captures and releases objects by crimping its skin. The grasper not only is relatively cheap and easy to produce but also can grab a variety of objects of different sizes, shapes, weights and materials. They discuss their work in this week’s Applied Physics Letters.

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Protein editorial assistants are clearing the way for cut-and-paste DNA editors, like CRISPR, to access previously inaccessible genes of interest. Opening up these areas of the genetic code is critical to improving CRISPR efficiency and moving toward futuristic, genetic-based assaults on disease. The DNA-binding editorial assistants were devised by a U.S.-based team of bioengineers, who describe their design in APL Bioengineering.

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The Heineman Foundation, AIP and AAS announce today the 2020 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics is awarded to Christopher Kochanek, professor at Ohio State University, "who has combined observations and theory to make outstanding contributions to astrophysics in topics ranging from the use of gravitational lenses for studies of dark matter halos and quasar accretion disks, to the lives and deaths of massive stars and the evolution of stellar populations in galaxies and quasars."

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Doctors have used focused ultrasound to destroy tumors without invasive surgery for some time. However, the therapeutic ultrasound used in clinics today indiscriminately damages cancer and healthy cells alike. Researchers have now developed a low-intensity ultrasound approach that exploits the properties of tumor cells to target them and provide a safer option. Their findings, reported in Applied Physics Letters, are a new step in oncotripsy, the singling out and killing of cancer cells based on their physical properties.

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Due to long-term and systemic issues leading to the consistent exclusion of African Americans in physics and astronomy, a task force is recommending sweeping changes and calling for awareness into the number and experiences of African American students studying the fields. “The Time Is Now: Systemic Changes to Increase African Americans with Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astronomy” discusses the factors responsible for the success or failure of African American students in physics and astronomy.

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In testing solar panels, the sun’s intensity, the spectral composition and the angle of light are important factors in understanding why certain panels are successful and others degrade more quickly. To address the knowledge gap in degradation mechanisms for various photovoltaic types, researchers performed tests over five years in which they collected weather data and panel performance information. The results are published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

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Scientists have developed space junk identification systems, but it has proven tricky to pinpoint the swift, small specks of space litter. A unique set of algorithms for laser ranging telescopes, described in the Journal of Laser Applications, by AIP Publishing, has significantly improving the success rate of space debris detection.

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The smuggling of contraband is a major threat in airport security and risks have increased in modern times with the uptick in parcel delivery, but security inspection methods have not seen any significant improvements. In AIP Advances, researchers propose a technique for efficient detection of contraband items. Typically, airport security uses X-ray imaging to quickly scan baggage, but this suffers limitations. To address this, luggage with suspicious X-ray results undergoes supplementary screening using energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction, or EDXRD.

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The American Institute of Physics is pleased to announce Paul Ginsparg, a professor at Cornell University and founder of arXiv, as the winner of AIP’s 2020 Karl Taylor Compton Medal for Leadership in Physics. Named after prominent physicist Karl Taylor Compton, the medal is presented by AIP every four years to highly distinguished physicists like Ginsparg who have made outstanding contributions through exceptional statesmanship in physics.

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An emerging technology involving tiny particles that absorb light and turn it into localized heat sources shows great promise in several fields, including medicine. This heating must be carefully controlled however, since living tissue is delicate, and the ability to monitor temperature increases is crucial. In APL Photonics, scientists report a method to measure these temperatures using terahertz radiation. The study involved suspensions of gold nanorods in water in small cuvettes, which were illuminated by a laser focused on a small spot within the cuvette.

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Much about the aerodynamic effects of larger wind farms remains poorly understood. New work in this week’s Journal of Renewable and Sustainably Energy looks to provide more insight in how the structures necessary for wind farms affect air flow. Using a two-scale coupled momentum balance method, researchers theoretically and computationally reconstructed conditions that large wind farms might face in the future, including the dampening effect that comes with spacing turbines close to one another.

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Thrips don’t rely on lift in order to fly. Instead, the tiny insects rely on a drag-based flight mechanism, keeping themselves afloat in airflow velocities with a large ratio of force to wing size. In a study published in this week’s Journal of Applied Physics, researchers performed the first test of the drag force on a thrip’s wing under constant airflow in a bench-top wind tunnel. Drawing from experience in microfabrication and nanomechanics, they created an experiment in which a thrip’s wing was glued to a self-sensing microcantilever.

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Several countries are building futuristic communication systems using higher frequency electromagnetic waves to transfer more data at faster rates, but they have lacked network components to handle these higher bandwidths. Researcher J. Gary Eden proved his new device can rapidly switch functionality to perform the varied tasks needed to support a network with carrier frequencies of over 100 gigahertz. The miniscule-scale architecture concealed within the sugar cube blocks is described in Applied Physics Reviews.

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Given a choice of items to lose on a train, a top-secret document detailing the newly developed hydrogen bomb should be on the bottom of the list. In January 1953, amid the Red Scare and the Korean War, that’s exactly what physicist John Archibald Wheeler lost. In the December 2019 issue of Physics Today, science historian Alex Wellerstein details the creation of the document and Wheeler’s day leading up to its mysterious loss.

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When making bread, it’s important not to overknead the dough, because this leads to a dense and tight dough due to a reduced water absorption capacity that impairs its ability to rise.

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Mathematicians have successfully applied a new, pictorial approach to answer complex questions that puzzle analysts, such as, do media stories on firearm legislation influence gun sales? Cause-and-effect queries like this pop up in various fields, from finance to neuroscience, and objective methods are needed to deliver reliable answers.

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Wind energy holds great promise as a source of renewable energy, but some have wondered addressing climate change has taken precedence over conservation of biodiversity. Wind turbines, for example, kill some birds, and the fatality rate for bats is even higher. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, scientists report the results of a survey of stakeholders in the wind energy field about attitudes toward the relative emphasis on climate change versus biodiversity issues.