Statistical physics

A fundamental technical challenge in the analysis of network data is the automated discovery of communities — groups of nodes that are strongly connected or that share similar features or roles. In this Comment we review progress in the field over the past 20 years.

Topological defects play an important role in biology, as shown by a growing body of evidence. Aleksandra Ardaševa and Amin Doostmohammadi survey the new research directions that are opening.

Plasmodium sporozoites can move in rotating vortices owing to their chiral shape and mechanical flexibility, revealing important physical aspects of collective motion.

A paper in Physical Review Letters reports how twisting yarn makes it stronger.

Forty years ago saw the introduction of stochastic resonance — the counter-intuitive idea that noise may help a nonlinear system respond to a weak signal.