The same physical process that helps to remove dirt from laundry could explain how tropical fish and other patterned animals get their spots, according to new research. Published in Science Advances, ...

A mixture of two types of pigment-producing cells undergoes diffusiophoretic transport to self-assemble into a hexagonal pattern. Credit: Siamak Mirfendereski and Ankur Gupta/CU Boulder A zebra’s ...

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 ...

(CNN) — The strikingly patterned ornate boxfish has no lack of detail when it comes to its hexagonal spots and keen stripes — the intricate markings are so sharp-edged in the species that it had ...

Top: A male ornate boxfish. Bottom: Simulated hexagon and stripe patterns obtained by diffusiophoretic assembly of two types of cells on top of the chemical patterns.

Using a new computer model, scientists simulated the stripes, spots and hexagons on a species of boxfish, imperfections and all. A male ornate boxfish with distinctive, complex patterns of stripes and ...