Events
Public lecture "Light-Regulated Active & Adaptive Amorphous Matter" & Panel discussion "From metastability to Function in Soft and Hard Matter"
| Title of the event | Public lecture "Light-Regulated Active & Adaptive Amorphous Matter" & Panel discussion "From metastability to Function in Soft and Hard Matter" |
| Series | Workshop: "Driven and active amorphous matter" |
| Organizer | Institut für Theoretische Physik und MPI-DS |
| Speaker | Maziyar Jalaal |
| Speaker institution | University of Amsterdam |
| Type of event | Sonstige Veranstaltungsart |
| Category | Forschung |
| Registration required | Nein |
| Details | Light plays a crucial role in various biological processes, from the mesmerizing bioluminescence of living organisms to photosynthesis. Here, we delve into how organisms adapt to ever-changing light conditions by modifying their photosynthetic apparatus. First, we examine the active motion of discoid chloroplasts in plants and show that dim-light conditions lead to an accumulation into an optimally dense, quasi-2D layer resembling systems near the glass transition. Our study suggests that the metastable caging at this transition in the chloroplast monolayer has physiological relevance: chloroplasts remain spread out to maximize light uptake but can readily fluidize when activity increases, allowing efficient rearrangement into an avoidance configuration. Second, we explore the chloroplast morphodynamics of a single-celled marine alga, whose disordered chloroplast network undergoes dramatic deformation under intense light. We show that this unusual, reticulated morphology exhibits properties similar to auxetic metamaterials, facilitating the rapid, large-scale deformation necessary for light-avoidance movements within the confines of the cell wall. Our study highlights how topologically complex metamaterials are harnessed in critical life-sustaining processes and how simple dynamical rules can govern complex material transport in crowded intracellular environments. n the end, we will present a range of open problems in the field and explain how we plan to address some of them using approaches that span from microscopy to robotics! |
| Date | Start: 22.07.2025, 17:00 Uhr Ende: 22.07.2025 , 00:00 Uhr |
| Location | Max-Planck-Institut für Multidisziplinäre Naturwissenschaften (MPI-NAT, Faßberg-Campus) (Am Faßberg 11) |
| Contact |
Prof. Dr. Peter Sollich peter.sollich@uni-goettingen.de |