Why is your shape what it is? Are shadows 2D? Is matter potentiality, and form actuality? What do shapes mean at different scales? Do shapes evolve? Are only regular 3D shapes stable? Is (the shape of, say) quartz stable, & can equilibrium shapes be derived? Is all matter porous? Why isn't everything spherical? Does nature (topologically speaking) make toruses from spheres? Do forms depend upon whether a system is isotropic or anisotropic? Why are biological shapes always fluctuating? Is life always out of equilibrium? Are kinetic (growing or moving) shapes different? Do swarms, liquid crystals, & bacteria colonies act like magnetized systems? Are murmurations 'thick'? Why aren't larger entities necessarily more complex in shape? Is our shape emergent or encoded? Why is it difficult to know how shapes mediate self assemblies or evolution? Would non-carbon life (if) certainly have a different form? Can one peel graphene layers from graphite? Is the core shape question essentially an attempt to understand the interplay of all forces at all length scales? Can small particles constantly change form, and be quasi-molten? &, what is the very long term future of shapes in the universe? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from biophysics (Dr. Shashi Thutupalli, NCBS & ICTS, Bangalore), & nanotechnology (Prof. Pulickel Ajayan, Rice University, Houston, Texas). Listen in…

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