More than 70 years ago, mathematician Alan Turing proposed a mechanism that explained how patterns could emerge from bland uniformity. Scientists are still using his model—and adding new twists—to ...

There’s a reason fashion designers look to animal prints for inspiration. Creatures have evolved a dizzying array of patterns: stripes, spots, diamonds, chevrons, hexagons and even mazelike designs.

There are many purposes that spots and stripes serve in nature, but how they form has been more of a mystery to scientists. Now, researchers have advanced their breakthrough theory – and it could help ...

From tiger stripes to leopard spots, the animal world is full of distinctive and intricate patterns. In a new study, CU Boulder scientists refined their previous theory of how animal patterns form and ...

Spots and stripes can be found everywhere in the animal kingdom. From the savannahs of Africa to the coastal waters off southern Australia, countless species boast distinctive markings. For decades, ...

Nature is full of many patterned animals, from the stripes on zebras, spots on leopards, to the intricate details on sea creatures. Researchers have studied for a long time the biological explanation ...

Ever wondered how leopards wear perfect dots or zebra's stripes? Scientists now know that patterns are not random at all. They are guided by nature’s chemistry, mathematics and tiny skin cells. These ...

Animal stripes and spots might look decorative, but they’re the result of deeply complex biological processes that begin long ...

Patterns abound in nature, from zebra stripes and leopard spots to honeycombs and bands of clouds. Somehow, these patterns form and organize all by themselves. To better understand how, researchers ...

The mottled spots giraffes are known for aren't random, according to a new study that suggests that the patterns are inherited maternally — and that they may impact the chances of a calf surviving its ...

Some patterns arise simply or randomly, but others develop via complex, precise interactions of pattern-generating systems. Their beauty aside, the intricacies of these systems are inspiring the ...

Nature has no shortage of patterns, from spots on leopards to stripes on zebras and hexagons on boxfish. But a full explanation for how these patterns form has remained elusive. Now engineers at the ...