Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
@bhamlalab.bsky.social
Curiosity driven science in physics of life and frugal innovations for planetary scale challenges
https://bhamla.gatech.edu/
https://bhamla.gatech.edu/
Pinned
Hiring 4 postdocs — organismal biophysics, soft robotics, frugal Raman diagnostics, or your own bold idea.
3-year funding, $65K+ benefits. GT (Atlanta) now → CU Boulder BioFrontiers Institute in Fall ’26.
PDF/details in next post. Tag/share if someone comes to mind. 🧪🪲🪳#livingphysics
3-year funding, $65K+ benefits. GT (Atlanta) now → CU Boulder BioFrontiers Institute in Fall ’26.
PDF/details in next post. Tag/share if someone comes to mind. 🧪🪲🪳#livingphysics
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Tiny worms, big surprises! When placed in sand-filled Petri dishes, centimeter-long aquatic worms like T. tubifex spontaneously sweep up particles and reorganize their environment — all without a brain. Research team co-led by Saad Bhamla (@bhamlalab.bsky.social, ChbE@GT). bit.ly/4bzXFao
January 15, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Tiny worms, big surprises! When placed in sand-filled Petri dishes, centimeter-long aquatic worms like T. tubifex spontaneously sweep up particles and reorganize their environment — all without a brain. Research team co-led by Saad Bhamla (@bhamlalab.bsky.social, ChbE@GT). bit.ly/4bzXFao
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Non-motile microbes are not prisoners of diffusive transport. Just their metabolic activity can be sufficient to stir up the ambient fluid and cause explosive long-range dispersal -- a "metabolic firework".
Our latest work -- arxiv.org/abs/2512.16288
Our latest work -- arxiv.org/abs/2512.16288
December 19, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Non-motile microbes are not prisoners of diffusive transport. Just their metabolic activity can be sufficient to stir up the ambient fluid and cause explosive long-range dispersal -- a "metabolic firework".
Our latest work -- arxiv.org/abs/2512.16288
Our latest work -- arxiv.org/abs/2512.16288
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Amazing research and such a fantastic scicomm video.
I'd like to show it to my kids, but I'm afraid that it'll backfire and they'll use it to explain why all the clothes in their cupboards are unfolded despite the fact they were folded when they went in....
I'd like to show it to my kids, but I'm afraid that it'll backfire and they'll use it to explain why all the clothes in their cupboards are unfolded despite the fact they were folded when they went in....
(1/n) What if you never had to make your bed? What if your laundry could fold itself? Folding is everywhere around us - but did you know that folding flat sheets are at the ❤️ of diversity of shapes in the animal world - since 500 million years ago. Our latest work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nudC...
Self-folding laundry
YouTube video by PrakashLab
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Amazing research and such a fantastic scicomm video.
I'd like to show it to my kids, but I'm afraid that it'll backfire and they'll use it to explain why all the clothes in their cupboards are unfolded despite the fact they were folded when they went in....
I'd like to show it to my kids, but I'm afraid that it'll backfire and they'll use it to explain why all the clothes in their cupboards are unfolded despite the fact they were folded when they went in....
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
(1/n) What if you never had to make your bed? What if your laundry could fold itself? Folding is everywhere around us - but did you know that folding flat sheets are at the ❤️ of diversity of shapes in the animal world - since 500 million years ago. Our latest work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nudC...
Self-folding laundry
YouTube video by PrakashLab
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:47 AM
(1/n) What if you never had to make your bed? What if your laundry could fold itself? Folding is everywhere around us - but did you know that folding flat sheets are at the ❤️ of diversity of shapes in the animal world - since 500 million years ago. Our latest work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nudC...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
These microrobots can execute digitally defined algorithms and autonomously change behavior in response to their surroundings.
It paves the way for general-purpose microrobots that work together to carry out tasks without supervision in uncertain environments.
🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
It paves the way for general-purpose microrobots that work together to carry out tasks without supervision in uncertain environments.
🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Microscopic robots that sense, think, act, and compute
Autonomous submillimeter robots are built with onboard sensing, computation, memory, communication, and locomotion.
www.science.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
These microrobots can execute digitally defined algorithms and autonomously change behavior in response to their surroundings.
It paves the way for general-purpose microrobots that work together to carry out tasks without supervision in uncertain environments.
🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
It paves the way for general-purpose microrobots that work together to carry out tasks without supervision in uncertain environments.
🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
I am pleased to announce that from Jan 1 2026 I take over as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Theory. My first act, with the support of the editorial team, is to bring the journal to BlueSky from X.
Please follow us @biologicaltheory.bsky.social. We will be posting about all our articles.
Please follow us @biologicaltheory.bsky.social. We will be posting about all our articles.
December 3, 2025 at 11:01 AM
I am pleased to announce that from Jan 1 2026 I take over as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Theory. My first act, with the support of the editorial team, is to bring the journal to BlueSky from X.
Please follow us @biologicaltheory.bsky.social. We will be posting about all our articles.
Please follow us @biologicaltheory.bsky.social. We will be posting about all our articles.
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:57 AM
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
PSA for people with NIH grant periods starting January 1st (including most NIGMS MIRAs): your RPPR is due Saturday, but they haven’t sent out the usual automated reminders, presumably due to the shutdown
November 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
PSA for people with NIH grant periods starting January 1st (including most NIGMS MIRAs): your RPPR is due Saturday, but they haven’t sent out the usual automated reminders, presumably due to the shutdown
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Are you a scientist?
Is your research cool?
Do people not adequately appreciate how cool your research is?
I'm looking for researchers to feature in Q&A-style interviews on my blog and would love to hear from (or about — embarrass your friends!) scientists interested in sharing their work. 🧪
Is your research cool?
Do people not adequately appreciate how cool your research is?
I'm looking for researchers to feature in Q&A-style interviews on my blog and would love to hear from (or about — embarrass your friends!) scientists interested in sharing their work. 🧪
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Are you a scientist?
Is your research cool?
Do people not adequately appreciate how cool your research is?
I'm looking for researchers to feature in Q&A-style interviews on my blog and would love to hear from (or about — embarrass your friends!) scientists interested in sharing their work. 🧪
Is your research cool?
Do people not adequately appreciate how cool your research is?
I'm looking for researchers to feature in Q&A-style interviews on my blog and would love to hear from (or about — embarrass your friends!) scientists interested in sharing their work. 🧪
Great sci comm.
Pit vipers need to hunt in the dark—they sense vibrations on the ground pretty well, but they even prey on birds or fast prey that require precision strikes.
Instead, they use some of the most sensitive organs on the planet to locate prey.
1/6 ⚛️🧪
Instead, they use some of the most sensitive organs on the planet to locate prey.
1/6 ⚛️🧪
November 9, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Great sci comm.
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
How much stress would a wood beetle get if the wood beetle was filled with worms?
Horned passalus beetles can have dozens to thousands of worms squirming inside them - and these worms can affect how their host responds to stress
#invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2023/06/chon...
Horned passalus beetles can have dozens to thousands of worms squirming inside them - and these worms can affect how their host responds to stress
#invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2023/06/chon...
<i>Chondronema passali</i>
The horned passalus beetle ( Odontotaenius disjunctus ) is an insect that is commonly found in rotting logs. These beetles do more than jus...
dailyparasite.blogspot.com
October 26, 2025 at 1:19 AM
How much stress would a wood beetle get if the wood beetle was filled with worms?
Horned passalus beetles can have dozens to thousands of worms squirming inside them - and these worms can affect how their host responds to stress
#invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2023/06/chon...
Horned passalus beetles can have dozens to thousands of worms squirming inside them - and these worms can affect how their host responds to stress
#invertebrate 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2023/06/chon...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Domesticated animals have pulled our heavy carts and turned our large mills for centuries. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum—what if the wheel you want to turn is so small you can’t see it?
Turns out we can harness the power of bacteria to power the world’s smallest machines.
1/7 ⚛️🧪
Turns out we can harness the power of bacteria to power the world’s smallest machines.
1/7 ⚛️🧪
October 26, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Domesticated animals have pulled our heavy carts and turned our large mills for centuries. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum—what if the wheel you want to turn is so small you can’t see it?
Turns out we can harness the power of bacteria to power the world’s smallest machines.
1/7 ⚛️🧪
Turns out we can harness the power of bacteria to power the world’s smallest machines.
1/7 ⚛️🧪
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Ingenious concept - light sheet on serial sections by photo-etching the expanded hydrogel, layer by layer.
Photo-sectioning is quite slow, and the volumetric images are insanely large and complex, but the data look wonderful.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Photo-sectioning is quite slow, and the volumetric images are insanely large and complex, but the data look wonderful.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Ingenious concept - light sheet on serial sections by photo-etching the expanded hydrogel, layer by layer.
Photo-sectioning is quite slow, and the volumetric images are insanely large and complex, but the data look wonderful.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Photo-sectioning is quite slow, and the volumetric images are insanely large and complex, but the data look wonderful.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Welcome to all the new Packard Fellows- this is an incredible community. I look forward to meeting you at the reunion!
Also, huge congrats to my colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social! Can't wait to see what you discover in your long-term eco/evo experiment, Lizard Island!
Also, huge congrats to my colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social! Can't wait to see what you discover in your long-term eco/evo experiment, Lizard Island!
We’re thrilled to announce the 2025 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering — 20 innovative early-career scientists who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research.
Meet the 2025 Packard Fellows ⬇
www.packard.org/2025fellows
Meet the 2025 Packard Fellows ⬇
www.packard.org/2025fellows
October 15, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Welcome to all the new Packard Fellows- this is an incredible community. I look forward to meeting you at the reunion!
Also, huge congrats to my colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social! Can't wait to see what you discover in your long-term eco/evo experiment, Lizard Island!
Also, huge congrats to my colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social! Can't wait to see what you discover in your long-term eco/evo experiment, Lizard Island!
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
This is my 1st time catching my pet archer fish, Legolas, spitting on camera. Archerfish use modified jaw and tongue bones to fire a jet of water to knock down bugs from over hanging vegetation. Here Legolas is shooting down a fruit fly 🪰 🐠🧪
September 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
This is my 1st time catching my pet archer fish, Legolas, spitting on camera. Archerfish use modified jaw and tongue bones to fire a jet of water to knock down bugs from over hanging vegetation. Here Legolas is shooting down a fruit fly 🪰 🐠🧪
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
🦑🧪 Job doing fieldwork (on ships) with Viking Cruises. Full-time position = ? Salary = ?
I usually don't post without more detail, but the job market is weird right now! And this would be a fun fit for someone, and I'm not sure if it'll hit the usual job feeds
www.vikingcareers.com/global/en/jo...
I usually don't post without more detail, but the job market is weird right now! And this would be a fun fit for someone, and I'm not sure if it'll hit the usual job feeds
www.vikingcareers.com/global/en/jo...
EXPEDITION - Field Scientist in Ocean & Expedition (Global) | Expedition at Viking Cruises
Apply for EXPEDITION - Field Scientist job with Viking Cruises in Ocean & Expedition (Global). Expedition at Viking Cruises
www.vikingcareers.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
🦑🧪 Job doing fieldwork (on ships) with Viking Cruises. Full-time position = ? Salary = ?
I usually don't post without more detail, but the job market is weird right now! And this would be a fun fit for someone, and I'm not sure if it'll hit the usual job feeds
www.vikingcareers.com/global/en/jo...
I usually don't post without more detail, but the job market is weird right now! And this would be a fun fit for someone, and I'm not sure if it'll hit the usual job feeds
www.vikingcareers.com/global/en/jo...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
In another exciting development our new preprint is online:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This is the work of my brilliant graduate student Katerina Kourkoulou in collaboration with Maggie Liu and Arnold Mathijssen. Here is a video of the subject of our study:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This is the work of my brilliant graduate student Katerina Kourkoulou in collaboration with Maggie Liu and Arnold Mathijssen. Here is a video of the subject of our study:
September 18, 2025 at 6:47 AM
In another exciting development our new preprint is online:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This is the work of my brilliant graduate student Katerina Kourkoulou in collaboration with Maggie Liu and Arnold Mathijssen. Here is a video of the subject of our study:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This is the work of my brilliant graduate student Katerina Kourkoulou in collaboration with Maggie Liu and Arnold Mathijssen. Here is a video of the subject of our study:
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Here's an interesting look into the Nobel Physics Prize nominating process up to the early 1970's. It's a reminder that it's never only been about the science. And that the human factors in science arise especially in recognition of work.
🧪
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
🧪
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
How Nobel favorites have fared
Over the first six and a half decades, the leading vote-getters received the award that same year less than half the time.
pubs.aip.org
September 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Here's an interesting look into the Nobel Physics Prize nominating process up to the early 1970's. It's a reminder that it's never only been about the science. And that the human factors in science arise especially in recognition of work.
🧪
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
🧪
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates
Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates,
the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over
surfaces without cell deformat...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Ripple bugs are aquatic insects about the size of a grain of rice, and it turns out that they can surf! 🦟🏄
A recent discovery by team @bhamlalab.bsky.social found that these insects harness tiny fans to surf streams and glide across fast-flowing water.
More at: bhamla.gatech.edu/project-blog...
A recent discovery by team @bhamlalab.bsky.social found that these insects harness tiny fans to surf streams and glide across fast-flowing water.
More at: bhamla.gatech.edu/project-blog...
Rapid Ripple Bugs — The Bhamla Lab
How insects harness tIny fans to surf turbulent streams
bhamla.gatech.edu
September 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Ripple bugs are aquatic insects about the size of a grain of rice, and it turns out that they can surf! 🦟🏄
A recent discovery by team @bhamlalab.bsky.social found that these insects harness tiny fans to surf streams and glide across fast-flowing water.
More at: bhamla.gatech.edu/project-blog...
A recent discovery by team @bhamlalab.bsky.social found that these insects harness tiny fans to surf streams and glide across fast-flowing water.
More at: bhamla.gatech.edu/project-blog...
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)
September 4, 2025 at 8:22 AM
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
More insights into the life of a scientist cosmosmagazine.com/science/biol.... 🧪 #arctic
Earth poetry in the Arctic: a window into another world
Lucinda Duxbury’s favourite place is onboard the research vessel (RV) JOIDES Resolution. She’s seeking traces of ancient DNA within Arctic sediments. This
cosmosmagazine.com
September 3, 2025 at 11:42 PM
More insights into the life of a scientist cosmosmagazine.com/science/biol.... 🧪 #arctic
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Big thanks to our team in @mbarinews.bsky.social Bioinspiration Lab and @moorefound.bsky.social for the wonderful feature and support as we developed EyeRIS. You can learn more about how we use this imaging system to study 🦑🌊🧪 from this 🧵: bsky.app/profile/kaka.... #onwardsanddownwards
🎙️ Our latest Beyond the Lab features Dr. @kakanikatija.bsky.social, principal engineer and Bioinspiration Lab lead at @mbarinews.bsky.social. Her team created an underwater optical imaging system that visualizes and measures fluid motion, particles, and living organisms in 3D.
Go Beyond the Lab ⤵️
Go Beyond the Lab ⤵️
Beyond the Lab: Kakani Katija, Ph.D.
[Image] Kakani Katija. Credit: Todd Walsh © MBARI
/* Disable any hover zoom/magnification, overlay, or cursor change on this specific …
www.moore.org
September 2, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Big thanks to our team in @mbarinews.bsky.social Bioinspiration Lab and @moorefound.bsky.social for the wonderful feature and support as we developed EyeRIS. You can learn more about how we use this imaging system to study 🦑🌊🧪 from this 🧵: bsky.app/profile/kaka.... #onwardsanddownwards
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Advice about sending your message in a noisy environment, from some birds with unusual eyelids: elizabethgpreston.substack.com/p/how-to-cut... 🧪
How to Cut Through the Noise
I'm not shouting.
elizabethgpreston.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Advice about sending your message in a noisy environment, from some birds with unusual eyelids: elizabethgpreston.substack.com/p/how-to-cut... 🧪
Reposted by Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech
Can cellular life be created in the lab? We are not yet there, but clearly getting closer! Check this paper where a new scenario for protocell replication is presented by Job Boekhoven and co-workers @manlius.bsky.social www.cell.com/chem/pdf/S24...
August 30, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Can cellular life be created in the lab? We are not yet there, but clearly getting closer! Check this paper where a new scenario for protocell replication is presented by Job Boekhoven and co-workers @manlius.bsky.social www.cell.com/chem/pdf/S24...