Marc S. Lavine

6 days ago | science.org | Michael Funk |Bianca Lopez |Jake Yeston |Marc S. Lavine

Environmental Science Mapping metalsBianca LopezHistoric and current human activities, such as copper mining near this tailing pond in Romania, pose serious threats to soil health globally. PHOTO: PAL SZILAGYI PALKO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTOMetals and metalloids are ubiquitous in soils, originating from bedrock and from human activities and infrastructure. These compounds can be toxic to humans and other organisms, and their soil distribution and concentrations at global scale are not well known.

2 months ago | science.org | Maxim Zaslavsky |Wenjian Sun |Fangmiao Sun |Marc S. Lavine

Robotics Collectives acting as solids or fluidsMarc S. LavineMotorized gears, magnets, and photodiodes enable collective action of robots based on principles from cell biology. Open in viewerOne vision for robotics is to design groups of simple robots that work together, for example, like a colony of ants that can move like a flowing fluid but can also form a solid structure such as a bridge for an unpassable span. Devlin et al.

2 months ago | science.org | Shixin Ma |Léa Meneu |Hongbo Liu |Ian S. Osborne |Michael Funk |Madeleine Seale | +11 more

Topological Optics Viewing topology in higher dimensionsIan S. OsborneArtistic depiction of a four-dimensional regular lattice that forms a quasicrystalline pattern with fivefold symmetry when projected in two dimensions. The symmetry and topology of physical systems are closely related to the symmetries governing the topological properties. Quasicrystals are ordered systems but have no translation or rotational symmetries.

Jan 23, 2025 | science.org | Ian S. Osborne |Bianca Lopez |Marc S. Lavine |Sarah Ross

Nonlinear Phononics Optically induced chiralityIan S. OsborneArtist’s depiction of optically induced chirality in a crystalChirality is a topological property of a material and is usually fixed when the material is prepared. A material is chiral (or achiral) and remains so for all temperatures and thermodynamics conditions. A right-handed chiral state cannot be easily switched to a left-handed one. Zeng et al.

Jan 16, 2025 | science.org | Christina Jackson |Zehao Zhang |Sacha Vignieri |Marc S. Lavine

Climate Change Feeling the squeezeSacha VignieriDesert lizards such as the Australian thorny devil, pictured here, have so far been resilient to increasing temperatures, unlike their African counterparts. PHOTO: PAUL D. STEWART/SCIENCE SOURCEEctothermic species such as lizards are likely to be more susceptible to increasing temperatures because of the physiological relationship between external conditions and their metabolic rate. Wild et al.