Liquid crystals are substances that flow like a liquid but maintain some of the ordered structure of crystals. Liquid-crystal molecules tend to be elongated and to orient in specific directions.

In 1888, liquid crystals were identified by Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer and German physicist Otto Lehmann. Studying the cholesterol in carrots using a temperature-controlled polarizing ...

These phages have been shown to form aggregates of liquid crystals in biofilms, but we wanted to understand this process, following on from work of several of our colleagues around the world.