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Gas vapors trigger reversible phase, color change in advanced fluids

Researchers have developed a reversible, vapor-controlled system capable of toggling the physical and optical traits of advanced fluids on demand.

Led by Nagoya University and Kyoto University in Japan, the study demonstrates a method to control the optical and physical properties of materials from the molecular level to the macroscopic scale.

At the core of the development is host–guest chemistry. It is a process where two distinct molecules lock together purely through physical forces, completely avoiding permanent chemical bonds.

Scientists studying bee brains found clues to how colonies coordinate complex behaviour without a central controller, relying instead on many small individual decisions

Honeybee colonies work in an organised way even though no bee tells the others what to do. Young bees look after the queen and baby bees, older ones build and guard the hive, and the oldest workers fly out to collect food.

Everything from cells to stars to particles exists on the edge of chaos

Complex systems, be they living beings or fundamental particles, need to have enough structure to hang together along with unpredictability that can allow for change. Columnist Thomas Lewton explores whether this idea is simply a pattern seen across the cosmos or could be a “theory of everything”

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