Nonlinear elasticity and short-range mechanical coupling govern the rate and symmetry of mouth opening in .

has a tubular bilayered epithelial body column with a dome-shaped head on one end and a foot on the other. lacks a permanent mouth: its head epithelium is sealed. Upon neuronal activation, a mouth opens at the apex of the head which can exceed the body column diameter in seconds, allowing to ingest prey larger than itself.

How the birth and death of shear layers determine confinement evolution: from the L → H transition to the density limit.

Electric field profile structure-especially its shear-is a natural order parameter for the edge plasma, and characterizes confinement regimes ranging from the H-mode (Wagner 1982 , 1408-1412 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.

Let it rip: the mechanics of self-bisection in asexual planarians determines their population reproductive strategies.

Asexual freshwater planarians reproduce by transverse bisection (binary fission) into two pieces. This process produces a head and a tail, which fully regenerate within 1-2 weeks. How planarians split into two offspring-using only their musculature and substrate traction-is a challenging biomechanics problem.

Mouth Function Determines the Shape Oscillation Pattern in Regenerating Hydra Tissue Spheres.

Hydra is a small freshwater polyp capable of regeneration from small tissue pieces and from aggregates of cells. During regeneration, a hollow bilayered sphere is formed that undergoes osmotically driven shape oscillations of inflation and rupture. These oscillations are necessary for successful regeneration.

Mechanics dictate where and how freshwater planarians fission.

Asexual freshwater planarians reproduce by tearing themselves into two pieces by a process called binary fission. The resulting head and tail pieces regenerate within about a week, forming two new worms. Understanding this process of ripping oneself into two parts poses a challenging biomechanical problem.

How electron two-stream instability drives cyclic Langmuir collapse and continuous coherent emission.

Continuous plasma coherent emission is maintained by repetitive Langmuir collapse driven by the nonlinear evolution of a strong electron two-stream instability. The Langmuir waves are modulated by solitary waves in the linear stage and electrostatic whistler waves in the nonlinear stage. Modulational instability leads to Langmuir collapse and electron heating that fills in cavitons.