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This is the homepage of the Georgia Tech node of the international Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) student research network. The goal of this network is to foster interaction and collaboration among PoLS researchers within Georgia Tech and across institutes. Six core faculty members from the Schools of Biology, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering lead the Georgia Tech PoLS node.
The NSF Physics of Living Systems program sponsors research "exploring the most fundamental physical processes that living systems utilize to perform their functions in dynamic and diverse environments." The aim of PoLS research is to advance our understanding of the living world in a quantitative way, while also seeking to expand the intellectual range of physics paying through the lessons learned from the biological study.
At Georgia Tech PoLS research is carried out across a diversity of biological scales: single-molecule ⇒ cellular ⇒ organismal biophysics. Both theoretical and experiment biophysics research is conducted by core faculty members and affiliated faculty.
Announcements
STABILIZING FALLS IN CONFINED ENVIRONMENTS
Nick Gravish
Subterranean animals must rapidly navigate unpredictable and perilous
underground environments. Nests of the fire ant \em{Solenopsis
invicta} (average body length 0.35 \pm 0.05 cm) consist of a
subterranean network of large chambers and tunnels which can reach 2
meters into the earth and house up to 250,000 workers. Laboratory
investigations of fire ants reveal that digging workers typically
climb up and down tunnels slightly wider than the largest ant hundreds
of times per hour. However the principles of locomotion within
confined environments such as tubes have been largely unexplored. We
hypothesize that the ability to engineer underground habitats provides
opportunities to facilitate movement. We conducted laboratory
experiments to monitor upward and downward tube climbing of isolated
fire ant workers. Fire ants were challenged to climb in 9.4 cm long
glass tunnels (diameter D = 0.1 – 0.9 cm) that separated a nest from
an open arena with food and water. During ascending and descending
climbs we induced falls by a rapid, short, translation of the tunnels
downward. We monitored induced falls over 24 hours in groups from five
separate colonies. The tunnel diameter has a significant affect on the
ability of ants to rapidly recover from perturbations. Falls in
smaller diameter tunnels were arrested through the use of rapid
jamming of limbs, body and antennae against the tunnel walls,
arresting in as low 30 ms. Falls in larger diameter tunnels were not
arrested. We find that the transition to stable fall arrest occurs in
tunnels equal to 1.4 BL. This tunnel size is comparable to the
natural tunnel diameter found near nest entrances. Our data indicates
that fire ants moving through natural tunnels can employ antennae,
limbs, and body to rapidly stabilize falls.
Core faculty list
| PI | Website | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel I. Goldman | http://crablab.gatech.edu | daniel.goldman[at]physics.gatech.edu |
| Jennifer Curtis | http://curtisresearch.gatech.edu/ | jennifer.curtis[at]physics.gatech.edu |
| Kurt Wiesenfeld | Department profile | kurt.wiesenfeld[at] physics.gatech.edu |
| Joshua Weitz | http://www.physics.gatech.edu/user/joshua-weitz | jsweitz[at] gatech.edu |
| Harold Kim | http://www.physics.gatech.edu/user/harold-kim | harold.kim [at] physics.gatech.edu |
| David Hu | http://www-old.me.gatech.edu/hu/ | hu [at] me.gatech.edu |
Support
This network is supported by the NSF Physics of Living Systems program within the physics division. The student research network is a part of the NSF Science across virtual institutes program to encourage interaction among researchers across many universities.
