Like most microswimmers, these Synura uvella algae use cilia to swim. Cilia are tiny, hair-like appendages that flap to produce thrust. Even under a microscope, the cilia are hard to Keep reading
Tag: microswimmer
Synchronizing Cilia
Just like human swimmers, microswimmers have to coordinate their motion to swim. But unlike humans, swimmers like the freshwater alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii doesn’t have a brain to help it synchronize Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2023
A fresh year means a look back at what was popular last year on FYFD. Usually, I give a numeric list of the top 10 posts, but this year the Keep reading
Ciliary Pathlines
For tiny creatures, swimming through water requires techniques very different than ours. Many, like this sea urchin larva, use hair-like cilia that they beat to push fluid near their bodies. Keep reading
Overcoming Turbulence
Despite their microscopic size, many plankton undertake a daily migration that covers tens of meters in depth. As they journey, they must contend with currents, turbulence, and other flows that Keep reading
Swimming With Corkscrews
For many microswimmers, like bacteria or spermatozoa, swimming through common fluids is like moving through mud. Unless they can produce enough thrust to overcome a fluid’s yield-stress, they are effectively Keep reading
Mixing With E. Coli
What happens when a flow meets swimming micro-organisms? Does the flow affect the swimmers? And how do the swimmers affect the flow in turn? Those are the questions behind the Keep reading
Rising Through Turbulence
Plankton — microscopic creatures with often limited swimming abilities — can face daily journeys of hundreds of vertical meters in the ocean. That’s a daunting prospect for any tiny swimmer. Keep reading
Swimming in Complex Fluids
Bacteria like E. coli swim using flagella, helical filaments attached to biological motors on their bodies. By rotating the flagella, the bacterium generates thrust that propels it forward. Oddly, though, Keep reading
Swept Along
When a car drives over a leaf-strewn autumn road, it pulls leaves up with its passage. This tendency to drag fluid along when an object passes is called entrainment, and Keep reading