Liquid-crystal and bacterial living materials self-organize and move in their own way. Smart glass, transitional lenses and mood rings are not the only things made of liquid crystals; mucus, slug slime and cell membranes also contain them. Now, a team of researchers is trying to better understand how liquid crystals, combined with bacteria, form living materials and how the two interact to organize and move. Ref. Source 2c.
Observation of the phase transition of liquid crystal defects for the first time. Researchers observed the phase transition of topological defects formed by liquid crystal (LC) materials for the first time. The phase transition of topological defects can be difficult to understand for a layperson but it needs to be studied to understand the mysteries of the universe or the underlying physics of skyrmions, which have intrinsic topological defects. Source 6o.