Soft Matter Blog

Already used in everything from paints to optical materials, colloids have found an entirely new application: as computing elements capable of high density information storage.

US collaborators Sharon Glotzer from University of Michigan and David Pine from New York University have designed a system of reconfigurable colloidal clusters which show potential for performing computational functions in unconventional environments. The team’s ‘digital colloids’ are based on specially designed dimpled particles, which, through entropic interactions, can be made to assemble onto a central sphere and explore various configurations on the sphere’s surface.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Measurements highlighting the different mechanical properties of healthy and diseased tear film could provide fresh understanding of the underlying causes of dry eye syndrome, and point to new treatments to ease the discomfort of millions of sufferers.

With risk factors including contact lens wear and extended periods in front of a computer screen, the discomfort and visual disturbance associated with dry eye syndrome (DES) is a growing public health concern.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

The secret to soft skin is not necessarily increasing its water content but retaining molecular fluidity © Shutterstock

Scientists in Sweden have probed the outermost layer of skin to gain molecular insights into how naturally occurring molecules in this layer protect it from drying out.

Healthy skin with a normal degree of hydration is soft and pliable. This is not the case for dry skin, which is brittle and easily cracks. To treat dry skin it is common to apply a cosmetic containing a humectant  ̶  a type of “moisturiser” – like glycerol or urea. These substances are also components of natural moisturising factor (NMF), a group of molecules naturally present in the skin barrier. The beneficial function of these compounds if often claimed to be their capacity for increasing skin hydration, although the underlying mechanisms are generally described with a rather weak molecular basis.