Very happy to see this work out! We propose a way to realize simple knots at the nano- and micro-scales using tangential activity with a diblock copolymer architecture. Work done @unipd.bsky.social

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organized along with @joelmarthelot.bsky.social

Why? Check our preprint:
arxiv.org/abs/2407.18805

(ii) Lowering the worms' activity—whether by getting them drunk 🍺 or chilling them down 🥶—unexpectedly leads to higher diffusion! 🤯
We also compared our experimental findings with the tangentially driven polymer model.

(i) Unlike their passive counterparts, living polymers spread faster in disordered media than in ordered media. Even more intriguingly, in disordered media, they move faster as the medium becomes denser, defying the common intuition that "the more crowded it is, the slower you go".

The 🪱 mania continues!
In our latest study, led by Rosa, we explored the locomotion and dynamics of living worms—acting as active polymers—navigating a porous environment made of 3D-printed pillar arrays. And we found something surprising...

😂

😂👑

May I join? 🙏