Sculpting stable structures in pure liquids
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

Oscillating flow and light pulses can be used to create reconfigurable architecture in liquid crystals. Materials scientists can carefully engineer concerted microfluidic flows and localized optothermal fields to achieve control on nucleation , growth and shape of such liquid domains. In comparison, pure liquids in thermodynamic equilibrium are structurally homogeneous. Experimental work based on theory and simulations have shown that if the liquids are maintained in a controlled state of nonequilibrium, the resulting structures can be indefinitely stabilized.