Nature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02787-y
How unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular ones is an open question. Now, using unicellular Stentor coeruleus as a model system, the transition between isolated individuals and a coordinated colony is shown to benefit all colony members.
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- Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular ciliate <i>Stentor</i>
- Yielding behaviour of active particles in bulk and in confinementNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02843-7 Assemblies of active particles display a range of dynamical phenomena. Simulations now show that the transition of an assembly of active particles from a jammed to a fluidized state is similar to the process of mechanical yielding seen in amorphous solids.
- Good feeders make good neighboursNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02793-0 The transition from single cells to multicellularity is a key but not well-understood step in animal evolution. A study shows that loosely-organized colonies of attached single-celled organisms can improve feeding through hydrodynamic cooperation.
- Acousto-dewetting enables droplet microfluidics on superhydrophilic surfacesNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02844-6 In droplet microfluidic setups, droplets are driven around on a surface, which is normally hydrophobic. Now, droplet microfluidics with superhydrophilic substrates is shown to also be feasible by exploiting acoustic effects.
- Enzymes as viscoelastic catalytic machinesNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02825-9 Enzymes are viscoelastic, deformable machines. Mutating high-strain regions in these machines affect their catalytic function.
- Twist angle serves as a tuning knob for superconductivityNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02829-5 Ultra-low-temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy measurements indicate that twisting the layers in heterostructures making up a single layer of superconducting NbSe2 on graphene leads to momentum-dependent changes in the superconducting gap. This ability could enable the development of artificial superconductors with nontrivial magnetic and topological properties.
- The mechanics of protein sweet spotsNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02826-8 Proteins rely on dynamic flexibility to function as life’s molecular machines. Now, artificial intelligence predictions and mechanics experiments reveal how mutations at specific protein sites modulate enzyme catalysis, advancing protein design.
- A qudit quantum computer for simulation of two-dimensional quantum electrodynamicsNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02821-z Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a cornerstone of the standard model of particle physics. A decade-long effort to simulate QED on a two-dimensional lattice has now succeeded — through the use of a trapped-ion quantum computer based on multidimensional ‘qudits’, which are uniquely suited to the challenge.
