From the weekly letter · 2 November 2026

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Clockwise swimmers build a counterclockwise fluid

In a suspension of spinning microalgae, the direction of collective rotation turns out to oppose the motion of the individual organisms. As the suspension becomes denser, clockwise-spinning cells assemble through hydrodynamic interactions into clusters that orbit counterclockwise. Those clusters then merge into a connected chiral fluid.

Combining experiments, theory and simulations, the researchers trace both this reversal and the formation of the connected network to the cells’ internally driven motion. They also find that the network changes ordinary and handed transport differently, as captured by even and odd diffusivities. The preprint illustrates why a living fluid cannot necessarily be understood as a passive liquid whose particles are simply forced to spin: how motion is powered can determine the collective behavior that emerges.

Editorial context written by AI from abstracts, not independent scientific validation. The kit and its verified quotes rely on the source paper, not on this letter.

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