Study reveals shared behavior of microbes and electrons
There are certain universal patterns in nature that hold true, regardless of objects’ size, species, or surroundings. Take, for instance, the branching fractals seen in both tree limbs and blood vessels, or the surprisingly similar spirals in mollusks and cabbage. Now scientists at MIT and Cambridge University have identified an unexpected shared pattern in the collective movement of bacteria and electrons: As billions of bacteria stream through a microfluidic lattice, they synchronize and swim in patterns similar to those of electrons orbiting around atomic nuclei in a magnetic material. The researchers found that by tuning certain dimensions of the microfluidic lattice, they were able to direct billions of microbes to align and swim in the same direction, much the way electrons circulate in the same direction when they create a magnetic field. With slight changes to the lattice, groups of bacteria flowed in opposite directions, resembling electrons in a nonmagnetic material. Surprisingly, the...