Physics Colloquium: Biological evolution as interplay of physics and genetics and/or nature as material designer

Abstract:

The evolution of the sheer infinite manifold of living beings has been realized with an astonishing small number of molecular species. This was achieved by the interplay of physics and genetics, and the concept of logistically controlled hierarchical design of functional material taken from nanoparticles.

Many concepts of human rational design of smart materials have been invented by Nature several billion years ago. Studying such natural design concepts can teach us how to design highly sophisticated mechanical structures and systems comprising of length scales from nanometer to meters by hierarchical design from functional modules.

I will discuss the physical basis of several outstanding examples of Nature ingenuity as nano-material designer: (i) The design of water splitting systems enabling the storage of free electrons by electrochemical gradients across bio-membranes; (ii) The design of new materials with unique material properties by copying design concepts that enable animals to survive under extreme environmental conditions; (iii) The rapid switching of rotating direction of bacterial motors by (Martensitic like) solid-solid phase transition of flagella; (iv) The formation of materials with outstanding mechanical toughness by cyclic recrystallization of inorganic crystals at charged bio-functional surfaces; Finally, (v) the construction of ductile material by suppression of the Griffith instability.

Event Organizer: Dr. Ishay Pomerantz