Movement sans ATP and learning sans neurons in curious ciliates
Please note that Saad Bhamla will be presenting virtually via Zoom.
For those who prefer to gather in person, WAB 563 will be available to watch the talk together.
Feel free to bring your own lunch and join us! 😊
Saad Bhamla: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | Georgia Tech
Abstract
Tangled active filaments are ubiquitous in nature, from chromosomal DNA and cilia carpets to root networks and worm collectives. How activity and elasticity facilitate collective topological transformations in living tangled matter is not well understood. In this talk, I will share our discoveries on why aquatic worms braid, tangle, and knot with their neighbors to form extraordinary mechano-functional living blobs — the stuff of science fiction. I will discuss how these soft, squishy, and 3-D blobs rapidly morph their shape, crawl, float, climb, self-assemble, and disassemble topological tangles. Using both mathematical models and robotic analogs, I will discuss how these "living polymers" solve Gordian knot problems using clever biophysics mechanisms that open a path to new classes of active topologically tunable robotic swarms.