Computational models are increasingly at the center of public discourse on topics ranging from investment strategies to climate change. How can we help our students understand the basic structure, strengths, and limitations of such models? Computational models in introductory physics are not complex...

Seven carbon chain radicals NCnS where n ¼ 1 7 have been detected in a supersonic molecular beam by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Although NCCS is found to have a bent structure and an asymmetric top spectrum, the five longer chains have linear heavy-atom backbones, and like the isovalent...

Rapid volumetric growth and extensive invasion into brain parenchyma are hallmarks of malignant neuroepithelial tumors in vivo. Little is known, however, about the mechanical impact of the growing brain tumor on its microenvironment. To better understand the environmental mechanical response, we used...

We engineer novel structures by ‘stuffing’? the aliphatic regions of self-assembled aggregates with hydrophobic homopolymer. These ‘stuffed’? vesicles and multiple emulsions are formed in a onestep process when we rehydrate stuffed films made of amphiphilic block copolymer and...

We fabricate and characterize capsules that are composite membranes, made of a polymer network stabilized by adsorption to colloids and inflated by osmotic pressure from internal free polyelectrolyte; here, poly-L-lysine forms the network and inflates the capsules. To assess these capsules’ properties...

We construct shells with tunable morphology and mechanical response with colloidal particles that self-assemble at the interface of emulsion droplets. Particles self-assemble to minimize the total interfacial energy, spontaneously forming a particle layer that encapsulates the droplets. We stabilize...

We study the growth and invasion of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in three-dimensional collagen I matrices of varying collagen concentration. Phase-contrast microscopy studies of the entire GBM system show that invasiveness at early times is limited by available collagen fibers. At early times, high...

We study model membranes in the form of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of two saturated lipids with different hydrophilic headgroups or different hydrophobic chain lengths. Lateral phase separation in the lipid bilayer causes solid-like ‘gel’ domains to nucleate and grow in the...

In multi-component lipid membranes, phase separation can lead to the formation of domains. The morphology of fluid-like domains has been rationalized in terms of membrane elasticity and line tension. We show that the morphology of solid-like domains is governed by different physics, and instead reflects...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are cationic amphiphiles that comprise a key component of innate immunity. Synthetic analogues of AMPs, such as the family of phenylene ethynylene antimicrobial oligomers (AMOs), recently demonstrated broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, but the underlying molecular mechanism...