Biocurious

/ a biophysics blog

New BioCurious Contributor

Posted 8 September 2006 by Andre under

Igor Kulic is a postdoc working with Phil Nelson in the physics department here at Penn and I am excited to say that he has decided to join BioCurious. I’ve known him since his arrival in Philadelphia about a year ago and I’ve found his enthusiasm for research to be contagious and his ideas to be invariably interesting.

Igor has dabbled in experiments in the past but most of his work has been theoretical. This will bring a nice balance and an interesting new perspective to BioCurious that I hope our readers will appreciate. I also hope that it will help our more theoretically minded colleagues to appreciate some of the manifold opportunities for them in biology.

Stay tuned for Igor’s inaugural post. I’m looking forward to it!

If you can’t wait, check out his website. It has a description of his research interests and links to some of his papers.

  

  1. Uncle Al    8 September 06    #

    Google
    “ratchet grass” blowout
    Google Images
    “ratchet grass” blowout

    Obvious in context. Hey Igor, is there a Linnean name forthcoming?


  2. PhilipJ    8 September 06    #

    Welcome aboard, Igor!


  3. Igor    9 September 06    #

    Thanks Phil and Andre,
    I am happy to be on board and help you make biophysics a big fiesta of inspiration for us and the readers.


  4. Igor    9 September 06    #

    Hi Uncle Al,
    It is called “hordeum murinum” by the taxonomists. Under SEM we discovered that the plant has an amazing directional nano-scale surface structure which enables it to rectify fluctuations in one direction (and lock in the other). I haven’t seen it in the US but there are some related species here too.
    They are called “hitchhiking plants” because they take long rides on animal’s fur.
    In Europe they are quite common and as kids we played with it letting it climb up on the inside of our sleeves. But if you get it into your ear, you can imagine the fun is over…

    Soon I’ll post a more detailed article about the amusing experiments we did with it and will explain what exactly makes it ratchet on any natural substrate.


  5. Uncle Al    9 September 06    #

    Hordeum murinum, “mouse barley,”
    http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HOMU

    Cf: foxtails. Kewl! Pursue grant funding hopes for “engineering applications of natural nanophytomechanical component arrays” and “an all-natural self-targeting cerumen dislodgement modality.” “8^>)


  6. Igor    10 September 06    #

    We thougth of that. In a series of systematic self-experiments we figured out that in best case it dislodges the eardrum first and works its way up to the brain…


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