How Swarming Bacteria Actively Use Physics to Avoid Danger

"Bacteria always find new ways to manipulate their environment to protect themselves," says HarshithaKotian, a PhD candidate at the Center for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Spreading tendrils of bacteria react to an obstacle in their path (details below). Credit: H. S. Kotian, A. Z. Abdulla, K. N. Hithysini, S. Harkar, S. Joge, A. Mishra, V. Singh, and M. M. Varma. Like many physics students, Kotian once thought research on bacteria and antibiotics sho...