Metropolitan Digital

Men's Weekly


.

Why does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the molecular-level processes behind crystals, stripes and basalt columns

  • Written by Maxim Lavrentovich, Assistant Professor of Theoretical Biophysics, University of Tennessee
Why does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the molecular-level processes behind crystals, stripes and basalt columnsGiant's Causeway in Northern Ireland features around 40,000 exposed polygonal columns of basalt in perfect horizontal sections.Chris Hill/Photodisc via Getty ImagesWhy does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the molecular-level processes behind crystals, stripes and basalt columns

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why does nature always...

Read more: Why does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the molecular-level processes behind...

More Articles ...

  1. Giorgia Meloni – the political provocateur set to become Italy's first far-right leader since Mussolini
  2. Conspiracy theories are dangerous even if very few people believe them
  3. Electric planes are coming: Short-hop regional flights could be running on batteries in a few years
  4. Super-Earths are bigger, more common and more habitable than Earth itself – and astronomers are discovering more of the billions they think are out there
  5. Why China feels threatened by the moral authority of a 90-year-old Catholic bishop
  6. Proposed federal abortion ban evokes 19th-century Comstock Act – a law so unpopular it triggered the centurylong backlash that led to Roe
  7. Typhoon Merbok, fueled by unusually warm Pacific Ocean, pounded Alaska's vulnerable coastal communities at a critical time
  8. Ukraine's rapid advance against Russia shows mastery of 3 essential skills for success in modern warfare
  9. Hayao Miyazaki’s 'Spirited Away' continues to delight fans and inspire animators 20 years after its US premiere
  10. School start times and screen time late in the evening exacerbate sleep deprivation in US teenagers
Metropolitan republishes selected articles from The Conversation USA with permission

Visit The Conversation to see more