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Shape anisotropy governs organization of active rods: Swarming, turbulence, flocking, and jamming.

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Title: Shape anisotropy governs organization of active rods: Swarming, turbulence, flocking, and jamming.
Authors: Shelke, Yogesh (AUTHOR), Nair S, Anpuj (AUTHOR), Vutukuri, Hanumantha Rao (AUTHOR)
Source: Science. 4/9/2026, Vol. 392 Issue 6794, p202-206. 5p.
Subjects: Anisotropy, Swarming (Zoology), Turbulence, Nonequilibrium thermodynamics, Pattern formation (Physical sciences), Clustering algorithms
Abstract: Shape anisotropy of individual building blocks plays a crucial role in creating exotic structures and controlling phase behavior in equilibrium systems. We present a combined experimental and simulation study in which we used light-driven self-propelled rods to investigate when and how shape-induced alignment and steric and hydrodynamic interactions govern self-organization. Varying rod aspect ratio and area fraction causes the system to evolve from active Brownian motion to swarming, active turbulence, flocking, large clusters, and jamming. A state diagram summarizes emergent behaviors, and spatiotemporal analyses reveal distinct giant-number fluctuations across states. This minimal model offers insight into the self-organization of biological rodlike microswimmers, enabling the decoupling of physical from biological mechanisms. Our results provide design rules for programmable synthetic active materials and highlight parallels with bacterial swarms and other biological assemblies. Editor's summary: In active matter systems, whether of a synthetic or biological nature, the input of energy leads to the ordering and organization of the individual constituents. Shelke et al. created self-propelled rods out of inorganic elongated particles that catalyze chemical reactions under light. The authors studied the rods' collective behavior under varying concentrations and aspect ratios and identified distinct collective regimes, including clustering, swarming, and active turbulence. From these data, they constructed a detailed state diagram. They also performed simulations of their rod systems that do not include the hydrodynamic interactions. By looking at the discrepancies with the experimental observations, the authors were able to extract the importance of hydrodynamics in the ordering that forms. —Marc S. Lavine [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Shape anisotropy governs organization of active rods: Swarming, turbulence, flocking, and jamming.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Shelke%2C+Yogesh%22">Shelke, Yogesh</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nair+S%2C+Anpuj%22">Nair S, Anpuj</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Vutukuri%2C+Hanumantha+Rao%22">Vutukuri, Hanumantha Rao</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Science%22">Science</searchLink>. 4/9/2026, Vol. 392 Issue 6794, p202-206. 5p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anisotropy%22">Anisotropy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Swarming+%28Zoology%29%22">Swarming (Zoology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Turbulence%22">Turbulence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nonequilibrium+thermodynamics%22">Nonequilibrium thermodynamics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pattern+formation+%28Physical+sciences%29%22">Pattern formation (Physical sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Clustering+algorithms%22">Clustering algorithms</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Shape anisotropy of individual building blocks plays a crucial role in creating exotic structures and controlling phase behavior in equilibrium systems. We present a combined experimental and simulation study in which we used light-driven self-propelled rods to investigate when and how shape-induced alignment and steric and hydrodynamic interactions govern self-organization. Varying rod aspect ratio and area fraction causes the system to evolve from active Brownian motion to swarming, active turbulence, flocking, large clusters, and jamming. A state diagram summarizes emergent behaviors, and spatiotemporal analyses reveal distinct giant-number fluctuations across states. This minimal model offers insight into the self-organization of biological rodlike microswimmers, enabling the decoupling of physical from biological mechanisms. Our results provide design rules for programmable synthetic active materials and highlight parallels with bacterial swarms and other biological assemblies. Editor's summary: In active matter systems, whether of a synthetic or biological nature, the input of energy leads to the ordering and organization of the individual constituents. Shelke et al. created self-propelled rods out of inorganic elongated particles that catalyze chemical reactions under light. The authors studied the rods' collective behavior under varying concentrations and aspect ratios and identified distinct collective regimes, including clustering, swarming, and active turbulence. From these data, they constructed a detailed state diagram. They also performed simulations of their rod systems that do not include the hydrodynamic interactions. By looking at the discrepancies with the experimental observations, the authors were able to extract the importance of hydrodynamics in the ordering that forms. —Marc S. Lavine [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1126/science.ady7618
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        Text: English
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        PageCount: 5
        StartPage: 202
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      – SubjectFull: Anisotropy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Swarming (Zoology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Turbulence
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      – SubjectFull: Nonequilibrium thermodynamics
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      – SubjectFull: Pattern formation (Physical sciences)
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      – SubjectFull: Clustering algorithms
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      – TitleFull: Shape anisotropy governs organization of active rods: Swarming, turbulence, flocking, and jamming.
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            NameFull: Nair S, Anpuj
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            NameFull: Vutukuri, Hanumantha Rao
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              M: 04
              Text: 4/9/2026
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              Y: 2026
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