Watch: Molecular Duet, a Short Film on Beauty Emerging from Chaos

This collaboration between filmmaker and video editor Anne Sofie Nørskov and Flatiron Institute Research Fellow Mahsa Mofidi brings the vibrant world of microtubules to life.

By clicking to watch this video, you agree to our privacy policy.

There’s no shortage of beauty in our observable world. But what about the world too small for the naked eye? In Molecular Duet, filmmaker and video editor Anne Sofie Nørskov and Flatiron Institute Research Fellow Mahsa Mofidi explore the hidden beauty of microtubules and the elegance of dynamic instability. Through ethereal visuals, poetic storytelling and molecular simulations, Molecular Duet reveals how beauty can emerge from instability and how order and chaos play out at life’s smallest scales.

The film, which you can stream now, was made as part of Symbiosis, a two-week program that pairs six scientists with six filmmakers. Each pair is tasked with creating short, boundary-pushing films. This year’s Symbiosis program is a component of the Simons Foundation’s Researcher Engagement program, an initiative of the foundation’s Science, Society & Culture division.

Learn more and stream all the films here.