Shining a tightly-focused but low-powered laser beam on an absorber dispersed
in a biological fluid gives rise to spectacular growth of dendritic patterns.
These result from localized drying of the fluid because of efficient absorption
and conduction of optical energy by the absorber. We have carried out
experiments in several biologically relevant fluids and have analyzed patterns
generated by different types of absorbers. We observe that the growth velocity
of branches in the dendritic patterns can decrease below the value expected for
natural drying
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