One assumption that has been central to the study of phyllotaxis, or leaf patterns, is that leaves protect their personal space. In fact, these patterns are consistent enough that cold, hard math can predict organic growth fairly well. Take a closer look, though, and you’ll find that a few curiously regular patterns pop up all over the natural world, from the balanced symmetry of bamboo shoots to the mesmerizing spirals of succulents. The composite is then cooled while carefully restricting the geometry, and because of difference in the thermal expansion of each material selective parts of the shell buckle under stress, causing patterns to form.To the untrained eye, plants may appear to grow rather impulsively, popping out leaves at random to create one big green jumble. In the technique, a curved “core” material is coated with a different “shell” material at a high temperature. Stress engineering can be used to create microstructures without using any high-precision patterning equipment. Now, having performed 'stress engineering' to create Fibonacci-sequence spirals on microstructures grown in the lab, physicists in China think they may have found the reason why the sequence is so ubiquitous - with a little help from a seemingly unrelated physics problem posed over 100 years ago ( Appl. It describes the number of petals around daisies, how the density of branches increases up a tree trunk, and how a pine cone's scales are arranged. The Fibonacci sequence - in which each successive number is the sum of its two preceding numbers - regularly crops up in nature. Webinars Tune into online presentations that allow expert speakers to explain novel tools and applications.Video Watch our specially filmed videos to get a different slant on the latest science.Podcasts Our regular conversations with inspiring figures from the scientific community.Audio and video Explore the sights and sounds of the scientific world.Women in physics Celebrating women in physics and their contributions to the field.Supercool physics Experiments that probe the exotic behaviour of matter at ultralow temperatures depend on the latest cryogenics technology.

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Fibonacci patterns in nature