Chapter 7: Active patterning and structure formation—self-limiting assembly, actuation, and integration

At the suggestion of NASA’s Physical Science Research Program in the Space Life and Physical
Science Research and Application Division, Paul Chaikin, Noel Clark, and Sidney Nagel organized a focus session and workshop for the 2020 American Physical Society (APS) March meeting under the auspices of the Division of Soft Matter.

Three overarching themes emerged from the workshop and are presented with additional details:
• Machines made out of machines
• Scalable self-sustaining ecosystems
• Active materials and metamaterials

This report lays out only some of the potential directions for soft matter dynamics over the next two decades. It also lays out the role that gravity plays in the organization of the basic building blocks of matter. Not only will research on soft matter have tremendous application towards understanding its behavior in our terrestrial environment, but also potentially in other NASA programs such as planetary science, exploration, robotics, etc.

Attached is a White Paper for the Decadal Survey that consists of an extended Title along with the previous Introduction and Chapter 2.7 from NASA/CP-20205010493.