Our lab put together some physics experiments to show at EMBL's Lab Day. We showed demonstrations of surface tension using soap bubbles and pattern formation using ferrofluids (picture left) and Faraday waves. Both of these physical principles are very important in biology. Surface tension determines the shape of cells, and different kinds of pattern-forming mechanisms govern processes as varied as the formation of stripes on tigers and the growth of the fingers on our hand!

Below you can see an example of Faraday waves, that illustrate how patterns can form through an instability. A liquid put on a vibrating speaker will spontaneously form patterns if the amplitude of the forcing crosses a threshold. It can form stripes, square or hexagonal patterns depending on the type of liquid and the frequency and amplitude of the vibration.