Datta Lab

The views and opinions expressed in this account are solely those of the members of the Datta Lab and do not necessarily reflect the position of our funding agencies or Princeton University. (Following, RT, and Likes ≠ endorsement)

Thrilled to see this paper published @JFluidMech! Check it out at doi.org/10.1017/jfm.20…. In it, we describe how elastic flow instabilities manifest in ordered granular media — and how inter-grain contacts shape the characteristics of the unstable flow. 🌪️⌛️ Summary below ⬇️

This #EarthDay we're featuring Rockefeller's Avi Flamholz, who studies how microbes contribute to #climatechange and how they could offer solutions to this problem via their metabolisms. From @TheScientistLLC: the-scientist.com/a-microbiologi…

@INemenman This is exciting work! Congratulations!!!

I keep posting about this. Maybe I am a bit excited... youtube.com/watch?v=iG25SW…

📢 We’re kicking off the first klogW seminar of the year! Join us on April 21st at 12PM EST for a talk by Douglas Jerolmack (UPenn) — 2026 APS-DSNP Fellow — presenting "Fragility of Soft Earth Materials" 🌎🌍🌏 Registration link: apsphysics.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

Each tubule of fungal root systems is about one-tenth the width of a human hair. New technology has allowed scientists to glimpse nutrients flowing through them for the first time. It’s revolutionizing the field. quantamagazine.org/an-arctic-road…

Officially out - very excited to share! “Emergent simplicity” in microbial ecosystems has long been an appealing idea—but meant different things to different people. As a result, the field hasn't agreed: is it real? surprising? useful? 1/3 doi.org/10.1126/scienc…

@mikhtikh Fascinating work! As I understand it, microbial activity collectively creates shared environmental conditions that then organize how the community functions. Kind of like a way of identifying 'thermodynamic variables' for microbial communities. So cool.

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. Please RT/share with whoever might be interested! [10/10]

The implications are broad. This mechanism may be at play in microbial mats, methane ebullition in sediments, and even in fermenting dough — systems where the biophysical mechanisms underlying microbial dispersal have long been unclear. [9/10]

Excited to release our latest work, led by postdoc @BabakVH, along with Tom Appleford, Hao Nghi Luu, @RamaswamyMeera, and @maziyarj: arxiv.org/abs/2604.07768! We discovered that immotile microbes can escape confinement by hitching a ride on biogenic bubbles.🫧 Summary ⬇️ [1/10]

#ICYMI: A new soil modeling study captures the motility dynamics of bacteria and reveals how physical confinement shapes root-associated microbiomes, potentially informing microbial management efforts in promoting plant health and agriculture. 🔗 go.aps.org/4lJCCFG

Using a transparent soil mimic and the model bacterium #Ecoli, researchers characterized how soil texture affects bacterial motility across pore scales, finding bacteria shift from run-and-tumble behavior in large pores to frequent trapping in small ones. go.aps.org/4lJCCFG

If you're attending the #APSSummit26 in Denver, please join us for a special session showcasing cutting-edge physics — astrophysical neutrinos, gravitational physics, neural networks, quantum computing, and quantum materials — and the craft of scientific synthesis. Details below!