Hot News and Exciting Progress

Turbulence toughens bones. An important breakthrough in the effect of microgravity on biomineralization and osteoporousis has been made in this group. This is so-far the first research on microgravity-induced osteoporousis from the point of view of physics. Under the title of "Turbulence toughens bones", this significant progress has been highlighted in the well-known Nature Science Update (http://www.nature.com/nsu/011115/011115-3.html)

The Little Chill. The freezing of water into ice plays an important role in many physical systems as diverse as car engines and the environment. The process of ice formation in the very small volume of a water droplet can be quite different from that in bulk water. This has profound implications for our understanding of both atmospheric and climatic effects, and freeze and antifreeze phenomena in plants and animals. But despite this, few studies of ice nucleation have been carried out at such small scales. Now, we (Du Ning and X. Y. Liu) have quantitatively examined the influence that volume has on the crystallization of ice in a water droplet. Under the title of "The little chill", this significant progress in micro ice freezing has been highlighted in the well-known Nature Physics Portal and Nature Materials Update (July 18, 2002).