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A team of mathematicians and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a mathematical equation that predicts how surface patterns form on curved objects. Pictured is a sphere with a combination of hexagons and labyrinthine patterns, and a more complex, torus-shaped object with hexagonal dimples.
When a grape slowly dries and shrivels, its surface creases, ultimately taking on the wrinkled form of a raisin. Similar patterns can be found on the surfaces of other dried materials, as well as in human fingerprints. While these patterns have long been observed in nature, and more recently in experiments, scientists have not been able to come up with a way to predict how such patterns arise in curved systems, such as microlenses.Image credit: Norbert Stoop
