Prof. L. Mahadevan – Harvard University – Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
“Water Movements in Soft Materials: from Passive Gels to Active Plants”
Water infiltrated materials such as gels, cells and tissues show an unusually rich phenomenology of material behavior. I will explore some facets of this in the context of passive and active water movements in gels and tissues with examples and closely tied in to experimental observations. Based on the specific and moving towards the general, I will close with some thoughts on limits of and the design principles for the rapid movements of plants and fungi.