Before revision:  Unlike the induction of contractile flows, the maintenance of dynamic stability in highly labile yet internally pre-stressed active materials remains unknown. To this end , we synthesize a biomimetic active nematic liquid crystal from long semi-flexible actin filaments driven out-of-equilibrium by myosin motor activity.
After revision:  While myosin motors drive the actin cytoskeleton out-of-equilibrium, the role of myosin-driven active stresses in the accumulation and dissipation of mechanical energy is unclear. To investigate this , we synthesize a biomimetic active nematic liquid crystal from long semi-flexible actin filaments driven out-of-equilibrium by myosin motor activity.