Denis Bartolo

Abstract Machines are designed, assembled and programmed to convert energy into predetermined dynamics and functions. By contrast, living systems such as interacting cells and animal groups self-organize, synchronize and perform complex tasks without predefined patterns.

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Summary We are active matter, in that we move and deform on our own without resorting to external forces. During the past 10 years, fluids and soft solids have been turned into active matter animated by spontaneous flows and deformations, usually by seeding a fluid with self-propelled units that convert chemical or electric energy into directed motion.