Nature is dynamic and complex. Therefore, creatures generate the most efficiently functioning biological materials. For example, abalone sea creatures have shells that resist attacks by predators to crack them open. Shells combine hard calcium carbonate crystals interleaved with softer layers of viscoelastic proteins. The interlinking... click to read more

Molecules, which are collections of tightly bound atoms, are all around in everyday life. For example, you can read this article because the light impinging on your retina drives a molecule called retinaldehyde to bend into a new 3D structure. This fine-tuning in the molecule's... click to read more

Predicting how the climate on our planet is evolving is crucial, especially under the ongoing climate change. But it is a challenging task, because the Earth climate is a complex, ever-changing system, involving many different factors influencing each other: sunlight, atmospheric carbon dioxide, polar ice... click to read more

Imagine finding yourself in a thick crowd of people and having to figure out your whereabouts. Before the advent of smartphones, you used to have two main options: asking someone, or inspecting your surroundings in hopes of recognizing any landmarks. The smell of fresh bread... click to read more

Nature often uses sophisticated strategies beyond our imagination. For example, biomolecules such as enzymes and nucleic acids form dynamic networks, in which they loosely associate with each other only when they need to perform a task together. Taking inspiration from such weak and temporary interactions,... click to read more