Physics Buzz

“It's unbelievable to be able to move a joystick and watch an organism that is 10x smaller than the width of my hair move across a screen,” says Christopher Pierce, a doctoral student at The Ohio State University (OSU) working with Dr. Ratnasingham Sooryakumar.

A hidden and indiscriminate threat, landmines injure and kill soldiers, civilians, and even inhabitants of now-peaceful regions every day. It’s impossible to know how many landmines are buried worldwide, but most estimates place the number somewhere between 100 million and 200 million devices. Once planted, landmines remain a threat until they are detected and detonated, a process that can take decades or longer if it is not a high priority in the region. Even when it is a priority, detecting these mines is slow and risky work.

There's a battle brewing underwater. Every year millions of dollars are spent combating bacterial films, called biofilms , that grow relentlessly beneath ships, corroding the structure, clogging undersea sensors,  and adding drag that can increase fuel consumption by up to 40 percent . Ship hull covered with biofilm scum. Image Credit: Graham B .  Now, scientists at Duke University have developed a new dynamic material that can be painted onto the bottom of boats and will shake off even tenacious bioscum. Key to the effective and environmentally friendly new  material , published this month in the journal Advanced Materials , is the ability to  "wrinkle" at the microscopic scale.