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New model describes result of non-reciprocal interactions between two non-linear molecules

Asymmetric interactions between different species of molecules have previously been demonstrated to result in self-organized patterns and functions. If one species A is attracted to B, but in turn, B is repelled by A, run-and-chase dynamic emerges.

From pitcher plants to printing presses, study shows how sticky films can be tamed

A recent Cambridge study reveals why sticky liquids don’t always spread evenly, knowledge that could help cut waste, improve product quality and make everyday technologies more reliable.

The research, led by Ph.D. student Saksham Sharma in the Particles, Soft Solids and Surfaces research group, has shown that there is a critical thickness where a retreating liquid film becomes unstable. Below this thickness, the film breaks apart and leaves evenly spaced lines of liquid as it retreats.

The study, published in Physical Review Fluids last month, highlights a delicate balance of forces. The properties of the liquid, the surface it is drawn across and the speed at which it recedes all combine to decide whether a film will stay smooth or split.

Streams of gas might lead to the rapid formation of high-mass stars

The size of our universe and the bodies within it is incomprehensible to us lowly humans. The sun has a mass that is more than 330,000 times that of our Earth, and yet there are stars in the universe that completely dwarf our sun.

Stars with masses more than eight times that of the sun are considered high-mass stars. These form rapidly in a process that gives off and radiation, which could not result in stars of such high mass without somehow overcoming this loss of mass, or feedback. Something is feeding these stars, but how exactly they can accumulate so much mass so quickly has remained a mystery.

Observations have proposed that enormous disk-like structures that form around a star— —might be the chief way of rapidly feeding . However, a team of researchers from several institutions, including Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo, has discovered another possibility.

Maize plants use a volatile gas to fight off pests in densely crowded fields

When maize fields become too crowded, the plants signal each other to boost their defenses. A research team led by Dongsheng Guo of Zhejiang University found that in crowded conditions, maize plants release a volatile gas called linalool into the air. When it reaches neighboring plants, the gas triggers a defensive response in their roots.

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