Jan.
31, 2013 — New York University physicists have developed a method for
moving microscopic particles with the flick of a light switch. Their work,
reported in the journal Science, relies on a blue light to prompt colloids
to move and then assemble -- much like birds flock and move together in flight.
The
method offers the potential to enhance the design of a range of industrial
products, including the architecture of electronics.
The
study's authors were: Jeremie Palacci and Stefano Sacanna, post-doctoral
fellows in NYU's Center for Soft Matter Research who devised the research;
David Pine and Paul Chaikin, professors in NYU's Department of Physics; and
Asher Preska Steinberg, an undergraduate at Brandeis University who was a
summer research program participant at NYU.
The
work addresses a fundamental question in nature -- what causes flocks and
swarms to form and move in a particular way? Schools of fish, colony formations
of bacteria, or flocks of birds are examples of how this occurs in living
matter. In this inquiry, the researchers focused on making artificial systems
exhibit similar activity. They used colloids -- small particles suspended
within a fluid medium -- and discovered the basic organizing principles in
natural flocking and how to use this to organize inorganic matter.
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