Bacterial biofilms are communities of bacteria that exist as aggregates that can adhere to
surfaces or be free-standing. This complex, social mode of cellular organization is …

The microbial community coalescence describes the mixing of microbial communities and
the merging of their surrounding environments. Despite its prevalence in natural ecosystems …

Topology transcends boundaries that conventionally delineate physical, biological, and
engineering sciences. Our ability to mathematically describe topology, combined with recent …

Whereas naturally occurring swarms thrive when crowded, physical interactions in robotic
swarms are either avoided or carefully controlled, thus limiting their operational density …

Elastic active matter—also called an active solid—consists of self-propelled units embedded
in an elastic matrix and it resists deformation. This shape-preserving property and the …

The ability of microorganisms to grow as aggregated assemblages has been known for
many years, however their structure has remained largely unexplored across multiple spatial …

Chiral active particles (CAPs) are self-propelling particles that break time-reversal symmetry
by orbiting or spinning, leading to intriguing behaviors. Here, we examined the dynamics of …

Understanding if and how the chirality of biomolecules is transferred across scales into
larger components and active processes remains elusive. For instance, flagellated bacteria …

Biological activity is often highly concentrated on surfaces, across the scales from molecular
motors and ciliary arrays to sessile and motile organisms. These 'active carpets' locally inject …

While motile bacteria display rich dynamics in dense colonies, the phoretic nature of artificial
micro-swimmers restricts their activity when crowded. Here we introduce a new class of …