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Turing pattern
developmental biology
Embryo Cells Set Patterns for Growth by Pushing and Pulling
Patterns that guide the development of feathers and other features can be set by mechanical forces in the embryo, not just by gradients of chemicals.
patterns
Turing Patterns Turn Up in a Tiny Crystal
The mechanism behind leopard spots and zebra stripes also appears to explain the patterned growth of a bismuth crystal, extending Alan Turing’s 1952 idea to the atomic scale.
Abstractions blog
Ancient Turing Pattern Builds Feathers, Hair — and Now, Shark Skin
A primordial developmental toolkit shared by all vertebrates, and described by a theory of the mathematician Alan Turing, sets the growth pattern for all types of skin structures.
neuroscience
A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate
Psychedelic drugs can trigger characteristic hallucinations, which have long been thought to hold clues about the brain’s circuitry. After nearly a century of study, a possible explanation is crystallizing.
Insights puzzle
Solution: ‘The DNA Computer Program’
Computer code serves as a useful analogy for what our genes do, but the complexity and messiness of life go well beyond simple analogies and mathematical models.
developmental biology
Biologists Home in on Turing Patterns
New research has prompted a resurgence of interest in the patterning mechanisms Alan Turing proposed 60 years ago.