NYU Courant and Chemistry investigators report in the journal Soft Matter that autophoretic bimetallic nanorods propelled by hydrogen peroxide fuel preferentially orient upwards and ascend along inclined planes show when the swimmers are tail-heavy. Gravitaxis is facilitated by interactions with solid boundaries, allowing even ultraheavy microswimmers to climb nearly vertical surfaces. Theory and simulations show that the buoyancy or gravitational torque that tends to align the rods is reinforced by a fore-aft drag asymmetry induced by hydrodynamic interactions with the wall. Get the article here. Graphic courtesy of Jun Zhang/YanPeng Liu.