THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE

摘要

In a simple fluid, particle diffusion such as the motion of colloidal particles shows a change in the mean squared displacement that is proportional with time. Within a nematic liquid crystal, diffusion of the molecules may show anisotropic behavior. Turiv et al. (p. 1351; see the Perspective by Abbott) asked what happens to colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal. At short times, anomalous diffusion was observed with motion both slower and faster than the long-term behavior, indicative of a complex coupling between the diffusive motion of the colloidal particles and the motion of the liquid crystal molecules.