Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - 06:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself. The researchers refer to the crystals as 'living' because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules.