Physicists at Leipzig University and Charles University in Prague have developed a method for changing the swimming style of tiny artificial microswimmers in real time. They can make a single microscopic particle switch at will between modes of swimming inspired by bacteria and algae. The researchers have thus turned a property that was previously fixed during production into a programmable parameter. They believe their findings pave the way for an evolutionary approach to the development of synthetic active matter. Their study has now been published in Nature Communications.
Light lets microswimmers switch between bacteria-like and algae-like propulsion
