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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Non-Aqueous Isolation and Enrichment of Glandular Capitate Stalked and Sessile Trichomes from Cannabis sativa
Published on: May 12, 2023
Biomimetic ratcheting motion of a soft, slender, sessile gel
L Mahadevan1, S Daniel, M K Chaudhury
1Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom. LM@deas.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Inspired by the locomotion of terrestrial limbless animals, we study the motion of a lubricated rod of a hydrogel on a soft substrate. We show that it is possible to mimic observed biological gaits by vibrating the substrate and by using a variety of mechanisms to break longitudinal and lateral symmetry. Our simple theory and experiments provide a unified view of the creeping, undulating, and inchworming gaits observed in limbless locomotion on land, all of which originate as symmetry-breaking bifurcations of a simple base state associated with periodic longitudinal oscillations of a slender gel. These ideas are therefore also applicable to technological situations that involve moving small, soft solids on substrates.
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