Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems

The Secret to a Smooth Pasta Sauce Wins Ig Nobel Prize Italian researchers studied how the ingredients of the traditional Roman dish cacio e pepe emulsify into a creamy sauce, winning the 2025 Physics Ig Nobel Prize.

Truly chuffed for our fearless food physicists @mpipks.bsky.social + collabs from AT @istaresearch.bsky.social, IT & ES who won this year’s Ig Nobel - the #NobelPrize of hearts❤️for cracking the science of perfect pasta !🍝Kudos to all for intrepidly consuming lots of cheese in the name of science!😋

Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce “Pasta alla Cacio e pepe” is a traditional Italian dish made with pasta, pecorino cheese, and pepper. Despite its simple ingredient list, achieving the perfect

This work was recently #published @aip-publishing.bsky.social in a special issue on "Kitchen Flows":

G. Bartolucci et al., "Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce", Phys. Fluids. 37, 044122 (2025)

doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841

Huge congratulations @gbart.bsky.social, Daniel M. Busiello, Matteo Ciarchi, Alberto Corticelli, Ivan Di Terlizzi, Fabrizio Olmeda, Davide Revignas, @vicioms.bsky.social l from the entire @mpipks.bsky.social community for ensuring that our cacio e pepe sauce will avoid the dreaded mozzarella phase!

Tipsy bats and perfect pasta: Ig Nobels celebrate ‘improbable’ research The annual awards are a celebration of weird but thought-provoking science.

IG Nobel Prize in #Physics 2025 to @mpipks.bsky.social researchers for elucidating the phase behaviour of cacio e pepe sauce. The work highlights how physics can also be applied to solve daily-life problems!

nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03045-0

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

Passive morphogenesis of the gut: work by @zhaoshh.bsky.social @lepuslapis.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social and collaborators at Princeton University, @flatironinstitute.org now #published @pnas.org:

doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505160122

Very honored to receive this prize from the Spanish Physical Society! Thanks a lot to all my collaborators, who make this possible!

Fallados los Premios de Física RSEF-Fundación BBVA 2025 Conoce a las personas galardonadas en los ámbitos de investigación, las enseñanzas secundaria y universitaria, la innovación, la tecnología y la divulgación

Congratulations to @ricardalert.bsky.social on being awarded the "Young Investigator Prize in Theoretical Physics” by the Spanish Royal Academy of Physics and the BBVA Foundation! The award is in recognition of his contributions to biological physics.

www.fbbva.es/noticias/fal...

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

Bacteria are surrounded by water! New work @natphys.nature.com by @ricardalert.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social & collaborators @ Princeton University shows that water capillary forces organise bacterial colonies into gas, nematic streams, and droplet states.

nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02965-y

New #preprint: "Control of lumen morphology by lateral and basal cell surfaces", a great #biophysics collaboration with Chandraniva Guha Ray, @markusmukenhirn.bsky.social, Alf Honigmann @biotec-tud.bsky.social @poldresden.bsky.social.

arxiv.org/abs/2509.04316

@mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de

Another #preprint: "Elasticity and plasticity of epithelial gap closure", from the #PhD work of Maryam Setoudeh:

arxiv.org/abs/2509.05110

This one required a lot of (I think) beautiful #mechanics!

@mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Another look at the drosophila wing! Frank Julicher @mpipks.bsky.social looks at how the wing forms within the pupal phase of morphogenesis. He discussed the physics underlying a hexatic crystalline order found in the wing epithelium that is controlled by cell size heterogeneity. #MBIMPG2025

Paper alert!🧪
We derive a theory that underpins interface resistance with a physical foundation and look at how it changes droplet growth and recovery kinetics! Awesome collab with @bosste.bsky.social Tyler Harmon @hymanlab.bsky.social @m-pol.bsky.social and Frank Jülicher @mpipks.bsky.social 1/4

Multiple PhD positions available! A new call of our International Max Planck Research School for Quantum Dynamics and Control is now open. We offer a large variety of projects in Physics and Chemistry. Application deadline is October 31st www.imprs-pks.mpg.de/application/...

#ERCStG @erc.europa.eu for Alexander Wietek @mpipks.bsky.social and his project "MoNiKa: Strong correlation physics in Moiré, Nickelate and Kagome superconductors" - many congratulations!

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

#Quantum geometry + Floquet theory = unlocking time crystals, topology, and exotic phases in #physics: work by Paul Schindler and @marinbukov.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social now #published @physrevx.bsky.social:

doi.org/10.1103/7l91-gw77

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

See also the press release (in German) by @hhu.de: www.hhu.de/news-einzela...

Activity-enhanced elasticity in entangled polymer solutions: research by Christina Kurzthaler @mpipks.bsky.social and collaborators @hhu.de @tuda.bsky.social now published @natcomms.nature.com!

doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60210-9

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

New random walk model elucidates hidden spatiotemporal patterns governing the evolution of complex systems: work by Samudrajit Thapa, Holger Kantz @mpipks.bsky.social and collaborators now published @physrevlett.bsky.social!

doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.197101

Numerical study by researchers @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de and @csbdresden.bsky.social of small ecological communities reveals the importance of the full network structure of ecological interactions for ecosystem stability. News article: www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

Interaction networks and stability of coexistence in ecological communities: work by @yumeng0806.bsky.social, @szhorvat.bsky.social, @lepuslapis.bsky.social, Carl Modes @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social #published @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2025.101297

✍️Script by Christina Kurzthaler and @marionamec.bsky.social

🎬Video by @marionamec.bsky.social ‬

💡Research group: “Transport and flows in complex environments” www.pks.mpg.de/tfce

@poldresden.bsky.social

@csbdresden.bsky.social

YouTube video by MPIPKS Tiny swimmers

🐠🦠Why can’t bacteria swim like fish?
At microscopic scales, physics changes — viscosity rules! Researchers at our institute study how microbes like E. coli overcome this challenge with clever strategies like run-and-tumble.

Watch our new video:

youtu.be/drwCRRD7CGY?...

Publication highlight: www.pks.mpg.de/research/hig...

What does the force required to poke a cyst of cells reveal about cyst mechanics? Research by Shiheng Zhao, Pierre Haas @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social now highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion in Phys. Rev. Lett.!

doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.228402

You are cordially invited.