Nano-oscillators get it together

Synchronized radiation from arrays of oscillators is widely used in microwave and wireless communications. Phase-locked oscillations produced at the atomic level now pave the way for devices on the nanoscale. Seen in southeast Asia, it is one of the most dazzling natural visual effects known: large congregations of fireflies blinking on and off in unison (Fig. 1). They orchestrate their flashing in almost perfect rhythm, and at a constant tempo. Each firefly maintains its steady beat through an internal clock, essentially a tiny oscillator inside its brain. Following outside stimuli, this oscillator begins to lock phase, or synchronize, with the firefly congregation1. A similar thing happens in the human heart: there, a cluster of pacemaker cells, known as the sinoatrial node, generates a synchronous oscillation that commands the rest of the heart to beat, in rhythm, for the duration of a life — typically some three billion pulses.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/437325a