Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Falko Schmidt

jsimmchen.bsky.social @jsimmchen.bsky.social · 2d

Congrats to Kelly for her beautiful Janus image in that was among the first 3 in the scientific image contest cfaed.tu-dresden.de/media-commun...

1 1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · 6d

Sad to hear that Jane Goodell, a pioneering primatologist, has died. She was one of the first to study primates in their natural habitat, live with them and truly trying to understand their connection to us humans.

To me she has been a great source of inspiration. We truly lost a great person!

🧪

Conservationist Jane Goodall, whose work revolutionized the study of primates, has died | CNN

Jane Goodall, whose lifelong work as a primatologist helped broaden the world’s understanding of animal behavior and emotions, has died, her institute said Wednesday. She was 91.

www.cnn.com

1 2 10

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · 10d

Was a pleasure having you!

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · 19d

Where do you see the advantage compared to microfluidics, which can manipulate more cells at faster rates?

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · 21d

Great to see my interview on Optics&Photonics News got published now

You can learn more about my own career choices, how I navigated academic and industrial environments and how a changing mindset opened up new opportunities for me.

Thanks Rachel for sharing my story! @optica-opn.org

#ECR
🧪💡

Journeys in Optics: Falko Schmidt

Falko Schmidt discusses his career trajectory, cofounding a startup and sustainability in the lab.

bit.ly

1 4

Reposted by Falko Schmidt

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Sep 4

With social media site Bluesky growing in popularity among academics, a new study has revealed how it measures up against X when it comes to sharing and promoting scientific research.

Science content on Bluesky attracts more engagement and originality than on X

New social media site is proving better for sharing research findings

www.chemistryworld.com

5 30 96

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 28

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The EU surrendered to Trump over trade tariffs – now it’s in danger of capitulating again | Thierry Breton

A fresh US assault is aimed at Europe’s right to regulate tech. It’s an outrage – and we must resist it, says former European commissioner Thierry Breton

www.theguardian.com

2

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 19

We have extended our deadline. There are still some spots available!

We highly encourage Bachelor, Master and PhDs to join. We left plenty of space for informal discussion between sessions, have several poster sessions and a dedicated career night!

Register today! Link below

#optofluidix2025

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 11

⏳ Last chance! Submit your abstract for our #conference OptoFluidiX 2025 (Sept 16–18, Leipzig) by Aug 14. Join top researchers + career session for young scientists. Details 👇

Topic: #Optofluidics, uniting #optics 💡, #microfluidics 🌀& #nanotech 🤖 for breakthroughs in #lifesciences. 🧪

Hope 2cu!

OptoFluidiX 2025

home.uni-leipzig.de

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 12

▪️Nicole N. Hashemi (Iowa State U): On-Chip Characterization of Microorganisms 🦠 Using Hydrodynamic
Focusing & Integrated Optics

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 12

▪️Pavan Kumar (Indian Institute of Science Education & Research): Hot Brownian Dynamics 🔥 in 2D Optical Traps

▪️Gerhard Gompper (FZ Jülich): Swimming 🏊‍♂️ & Swarming of Intelligent Active Particles

▪️Francesca Bragheri (I Photonics & Nanotech): Optofluidic Platforms for Super-Resolution Microscopy 🔬

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 12

Day 2:

▪️Lynn Paterson (Heriot-Watt U): Optical Manipulation💡 & Sensing of Cells & Particles in Ultrafast Laser Inscribed µfluidics

▪️Tetsuro Tsuji (Kyoto U): Connection Between Thermo-Osmosis and Thermophoresis 🔥

▪️Raúl A. Rica (U Granada): Heat Generation in Optical Tweezers 🪤

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 11

▪️Holger Stark (TU Berlin): Designing and
Controlling Active Flow 🌀by Activity Patterns

▪️Christina Kurzthaler (MPI PCS): Swimming 🏊 in Complex Environments ⛰️

▪️Jaime Ortega Arroyo (ETH): Sensing 📡 in pl Volumes

▪️Mikael Käll (Chalmers): Directional Marangoni
Flows 🌀Induced by Laser Heating of Gold

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 11

We have a phenomenal line up of experts to share their latest research!

Day 1:
▪️Lailai Zhu (NU Singapore): Intelligent µfluidics 🌀& µbots 🤖 via Machine Learning

▪️Petra Paiè (Politecnico Milano): Bridging µfluidics 🌀 & microscopy 🔬

▪️Giovanni Volpe (U Gothenburg): Deep Learning for Soft
Matter 🦠

2 1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 11

⏳ Last chance! Submit your abstract for our #conference OptoFluidiX 2025 (Sept 16–18, Leipzig) by Aug 14. Join top researchers + career session for young scientists. Details 👇

Topic: #Optofluidics, uniting #optics 💡, #microfluidics 🌀& #nanotech 🤖 for breakthroughs in #lifesciences. 🧪

Hope 2cu!

OptoFluidiX 2025

home.uni-leipzig.de

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 11

In case you missed my latest paper coming out, have a look 👀

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

It's out & hot 🔥 Not only because it just went online but since we show that engineered heat patterns are super effective in manipulating fluid flows & particles.
If you work in microfluidics, or need reconfigurable environments in your experiments, give it a read!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪💡

Three-dimensional optofluidic control using reconfigurable thermal barriers - Nature Photonics

A fluidic system with spatially reconfigurable hot spots generated by optical pumping of plasmonic nanorods is demonstrated, creating virtual barriers by generating local heating via photothermal conv...

www.nature.com

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

Thanks to my wonderful collaborators @rquidant.bsky.social, Carlos, Emilio, Raul, Marc and Jaime for this successful project, sponsored by a PostDoctoral Fellowship of @snsf.ch within the lab @quidantsnsl.bsky.social

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

🚀 Our light-powered, reconfigurable #microfluidics opens the door to multifunctional, adaptive devices, which are ideal for lab-on-chip chemical synthesis, diagnostics, cell and analyte handling. These feedback-tuned thermal landscapes could transform compact experimental workflows. #optothermal

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

🎯📏 Arrays sort particles by size similar to a microscopic version of a Galton board 🎲 using only light & heat 🌞💧. Larger ones deflect differently than smaller ones, enabling precise, programmable sorting with no pumps or any moving parts.

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

💡🎛️ Projected patterns via a spatial light modulator form barriers that steer ↩️, split ✂️, merge ➕, or trap 🌀 particles. Designs switch in <100 ms ⚡ enabling real-time reconfiguration for complex microfluidic tasks.

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

Brief summary: 🔬✨ Using structured light, we created 3D thermal barriers 🌡️💧 in microchannels without requiring any walls! Barriers reshape flow & move particles 🎯 on-demand, enabling fast, contact-free control for lab-on-chip systems.

1

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Aug 8

It's out & hot 🔥 Not only because it just went online but since we show that engineered heat patterns are super effective in manipulating fluid flows & particles.
If you work in microfluidics, or need reconfigurable environments in your experiments, give it a read!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪💡

Three-dimensional optofluidic control using reconfigurable thermal barriers - Nature Photonics

A fluidic system with spatially reconfigurable hot spots generated by optical pumping of plasmonic nanorods is demonstrated, creating virtual barriers by generating local heating via photothermal conv...

www.nature.com

1 5 18

Reposted by Falko Schmidt

James Sharpe @jamesasharpe.bsky.social · Jul 21

Can robots in a swarm act like the cells of an organism? Thanks to Sedeer El-Showk for the new article in @nature.com, which highlights the work of a number of research groups, including our own, on how “Robots demonstrate principles of collective intelligence”. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

8 14

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Jul 9

You can now see my recorded presentation of our recent work on reconfigurable #Optofluidics on my website.

It will give you a brief overview of how you can leverage heat 🔥 to let particle ☄️follow predefined paths in #microfluidics 🚿

activematter.research.st/posts/4106-o...

🧪💡⚛️

Dr. Falko Schmidt - Online Webinar of Falko Schmidt at BPPB Seminar

Falko Schmidt is sharing a novel optofluidic toolbox for the precise manipulation of local fluid flows and particle movement with the BPPB community. It's a ...

activematter.research.st

2

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Jun 25

First three images on this news post are from our lab 🥼

Check it out, you can see we had fun 🤩

Universität Leipzig: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften

www.uni-leipzig.de

Falko Schmidt @falkoschmidt.bsky.social · Jun 23

Very happy to have seen so many people from the general public having a look at our #photonic and #activematter experiments @ #longnightofscience @unileipzig.bsky.social

We made slimy monsters 👾, cats 🐈 appear&disappear, 🌈 and propel mini rafts in water driven by soap 🧼

#scienceoutreach

🧪💡

1 1