  Biological cells self-organize into living materials that uniquely blend
structure with functionality and responsiveness to the environment. The
integration of similar life-like features in man-made materials remains
challenging, yet desirable to manufacture active, adaptive and autonomous
systems. Here we show the self-organization of programmable random lasers from
the reversible out-of-equilibrium self-assembly of colloids. Random lasing
originates from the optical amplification of light undergoing multiple
scattering within the dissipative colloidal assemblies and therefore is
crucially dependent on their self-organization behavior. Under external light
stimuli, these dynamic random lasers are responsive and present a continuously
tunable laser threshold. They can thus reconfigure and cooperate by emulating
the ever-evolving spatiotemporal relationship between structure and
functionality typical of living matter.
