Walking droplets, swimming microbes: on memory in physics and life

TL;DR

This paper explores the similarities and differences between physical memory in vibrating droplet experiments and biological memory in bacteria, offering a perspective on multilevel memory in living systems.

Contribution

It provides a comparative perspective on physical and biological memory, highlighting potential parallels and differences in multilevel memory mechanisms in living matter.

Findings

Physical memory in droplets and biological memory in bacteria are compared.

The paper discusses the multilevel, loopy nature of memory in living systems.

It offers speculative insights into the connection between physics and life sciences.

Abstract

Whirling and swerving, a bacterium is swimming in a test tube, foraging for food. On the surface of a vibrating bath, a droplet starts walking. A certain similarity, but mostly dissimilarity, between the physical memory that emerges in Couder's droplet experiments and the biological memory of the bacterium is noted. It serves as a starting point for a short perspective and speculation on the multilevel, loopy memory of living matter.