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Articles on Patterns

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A rock surface containing a circular pattern with a central depression. The scale bar = 10 cm. Images modified from: Helm, C.W.; Cawthra, H.C.; De Vynck, J.C.; Helm, C.J.; Rust, R.; Stear. W. Patterns in the Sand: A Pleistocene hominin signature along the South African coastline? Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association (2019)

Ancient humans may have made patterns and sculptures on South Africa’s beaches

Given that we know humans moved across these landscapes, we wondered whether there might also be evidence of other forms of human activity on these surfaces of sand.
How many lakes are in Alaska? Thermokarst lakes on Alaska’s North Slope are self-similar and fractal. Painting by Cherissa Dukelow

Mathematics of scale: Big, small and everything in between

What do earthquakes, wealthy Italian families and your circulatory system have in common? Scientists use fractals, self-similarity and power laws to translate from local to global scales.
Zebrafish are known for their black and gold stripes. NICHD/flickr

How the zebrafish got its stripes

Zebrafish are known for their black and gold stripes, but researchers are still figuring out how pigment cells interact to form these patterns.
Is there a geometry lesson hidden in ‘The Last Supper’? Wikimedia Commons

Did artists lead the way in mathematics?

Mathematics and art are generally viewed as very different. But a trip through history – from an Islamic palace to Pollock’s paintings – proves the parallels between the two can be uncanny.
Kite- and dart-shaped tiles create never-repeating patterns. PrzemekMajewski /wikimedia

The maths behind ‘impossible’ never-repeating patterns

Many scientists didn’t believe that crystals made up of never-repeating patterns could exist. But they do and scientists are starting to understand the weird maths behind them.
Repeating patterns are visually intriguing. Frank A Farris

Patterns are math we love to look at

When you see a repeating pattern, your mind easily imagines it continuing to infinity. There are mathematical rules behind the intriguing visuals.
Try to predict the outcome of a single coin toss and you’ll have only a 50-50 chance of being correct. Pauli Antero/Flickr

Why predicting a flu outbreak is like betting on football or flipping a coin

Predicting infectious disease outbreaks is a tricky task to begin with. And it’s made harder still by the fact that any individual outcome is subject to unpredictable – or stochastic – effects.

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