The Most Active Matter of All - ScienceDirect

The term “matter” encompasses everything from molecules to mountains. It also includes living, sentient beings. If matter composes all physical things, and materials science considers the behavior of such things, can materials science describe the most active matter of all? Active matter has emerged in recent years as an exciting new research area at the forefront of materials science. Generally speaking, matter is considered to be “active” when there are energy production and dissipation mechanisms operating inside what we consider to be its constituent elements, 1 just as “soft” matter is built out of elements with internal mechanical and thermal properties. In part because many biomaterials can be considered active, there has been an explosion of research over the past few decades aimed at understanding and controlling active matter. Typical experimental active-matter systems include microtubules, bacterial colonies, and active colloids. These systems can be considered “matter” in

The term “matter” encompasses everything from molecules to mountains. It also includes living, sentient beings. If matter composes all physical things, and materials science considers the behavior of such things, can materials science describe the most active matter of all? Active matter has emerged in recent years as an exciting new research area at the forefront of materials science. Generally speaking, matter is considered to be “active” when there are energy production and dissipation mechanisms operating inside what we consider to be its constituent elements, 1 just as “soft” matter is bu