Storm warning for curved layers: from dunes to muscle fibers

What do a ream of paper, desert dunes, muscle fibers and the endoplasmic reticulum of cells have in common? Seen as a whole, these so-called smectic structures are organized on a large scale in locally parallel layers. They are also active, as they are subject to local energy injection via exposure to a mechanical or chemical environment. In this study, scientists have developed a generic theory that describes the temporal evolution of active smectics.