PNAS Nexus

Liquid lenses on a soap film can mimic galaxy-scale gravity in real time, reproducing orbits, collisions, and tidal structures on a tabletop. A new way to study cosmic dynamics at human scales. In Science News: https://ow.ly/4Eja50Z4jBA In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/2r7H50Z4iEy

The gravitational dynamics that shape entire galaxies, creating tidal arms and bridges, can be reproduced at the millimeter scale by water lenses on a soap film—the vast and slow ballets of space are echoed in miniature on an ephemeral soap bubble. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/vYvf50YZNQQ

Cozzarelli Prize Class VI winner Erin Murphy discusses research on how plastic ingestion affects mortality risk in marine wildlife. Watch the full video to learn more about the research: https://ow.ly/z2gC50YXK2V

Cozzarelli Prize Class V winner Sean J. Westwood discusses how large language models can generate synthetic survey responses that resemble human data, raising questions about the reliability of online survey research. Watch the full video to learn more about the research: https://ow.ly/BYWW50YXJQ1

Cozzarelli Prize Class III winners Andrew Pieper and Sandy D. Markowitz discuss their research on protecting the blood–brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury, identifying 15-PGDH as a key driver of inflammation. Watch now: https://ow.ly/GYEb50YWbGB

Cozzarelli Prize Class VI winner Hanqing Jiang of Westlake University discusses the use of soft, viscoelastic materials to enable broadband low-frequency sound absorption, offering a new approach to noise control in everyday environments. Watch the full video: https://ow.ly/YFAy50YV8N4

Cozzarelli Prize Class II winner Jordi Bascompte of Institute of Medical Virology, University Zurich explores the emergence of eukaryotic life and how a major evolutionary transition reshaped biological complexity. Watch the full video: https://ow.ly/4PQL50YUzRb

Cozzarelli Prize Class I winners Justin C. Burton and Ilya Nemenman of Emory University discuss using machine learning to study particle interactions in dusty plasmas and what this reveals about complex systems. Watch the full video: https://ow.ly/ZE9X50YTwNh

Five distinct under-ice flow regimes—one conductive and four convective—are uncovered in a modeling study of the hidden dynamics under the ice of frozen lakes. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/4pC750YCrk9