The human visual system exhibits a remarkable ability to decipher the three-dimensional structure of the world from two-dimensional retinal images. Central to this process is the utilisation of shape ...

Reflective symmetry is when a shape can be folded in half, with either side of the fold being a mirror image of the other. Rotational symmetry is when a shape can be rotated and it still looks the ...

Researchers learn to predict how crystals take shape from their internal chemistry, even when the crystal lacks symmetry. A crystal's shape is determined by its inherent chemistry, a characteristic ...

Ikoma, Japan – The generation and maintenance of tissue boundaries are fundamental to the development of functional organs in both plants and animals. In general, tissue boundaries are initially set ...

To begin to understand what mathematicians and physicists see in the abstract structures of symmetries, let’s start with a familiar shape. We are fond of saying things are symmetric, but what does ...

Scientists discover how a hidden crystal pattern in advanced materials can control how they emit light, offering new ways to guide ultrafast signals using lasers. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Modern ...

To most people, “symmetry” means the bilateral symmetry exhibited by, say, a butterfly, or the human face. That is, if you take a picture of a butterfly and draw a straight line down the middle of the ...

This hour of Radiolab, we set out in search of order and balance in the world around us, and ask how symmetry shapes our very existence - from the origins of the universe, to what we see when we look ...