Pattern and Meaning 2
Issue 76 April 2023
The Beauty and Fragility of Nature
Meredith Woolnough is an internationally acclaimed, award winning artist from Newcastle, Australia. Her elegant, embroidered drawings capture the beauty and fragility of nature in knotted threads. Vibrant coloured structures of organic shapes hover effortlessly above the surface, elegant and enchanting.
“The more I work with natural forms, the more I find myself drawn into the science of nature. I am fascinated by the way things are built, the way they grow and function. I often find myself marvelling at the perfection of a single leaf or the phenomenal beauty of a coral reef and it can be quite overwhelming at times, almost spiritual.”
On ‘PRESENCE: The science and true stories of the unseen other’
Ben Alderson-Day is an Associate Professor at Durham University and member of the Developmental Science research group at Durham. He is the co-founder and co-chair of the Early Career Hallucinations Research (ECHR) group, a network of over 250 ECRs in 24 countries conducting research on hallucinations and related topics. His most recent research has concerned “felt presence”: the sensation that someone is present without any sensory cues. In this interview, he discusses his latest book ‘PRESENCE: The strange and true stories of the unseen other’ (Manchester University Press, March 2023).
Painting as a form of meditation
Deeply connected to nature and interested in human consciousness, Alicia Blaze Hunsicker is inspired by both science and spirituality. Alicia has shown her work both nationally and internationally. She has received numerous grants and awards, and has been a resident artist at the D. Fleiss & East West International Artists Residency, Mallnitz, Austria, as well as at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT.
How we identified brain patterns of consciousness
Davinia Fernández-Espejo is a Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham. Her main goal is to understand how the brain supports consciousness and what goes wrong for patients to become entirely unaware after severe brain injury. She uses techniques such as MRI (structural and functional), tDCS, and behavioural approaches in both healthy volunteers and patients with a disorder of consciousness to test hypotheses about the role of different brain structures in the clinical deficits they present. This research is directly translated into the development of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to be used in clinical settings, as well as the development of novel treatment approaches.
The maths behind ‘impossible’ never-repeating patterns
Priya Subramanian is a Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland, New Zealand. The underlying theme of her research interests lies in understanding spatio-temporal patterns and emergent behaviour in a variety of systems.
Why does nature create patterns? A physicist explains the processes behind crystals, stripes and basalt columns
Maxim Lavrentovich is Assistant Professor of Theoretical Biophysics, University of Tennessee, working on theoretical problems in biophysics and soft condensed matter physics.
“Before moving to UT, I worked for three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in the Soft Condensed Matter Theory group. I was a graduate student at Harvard University from 2008 to 2014, working under the supervision of David R. Nelson. I received a B. A. in Physics and Mathematics from Kenyon College in 2008.”
Alan Turing: how the world’s most famous codebreaker unlocked the secrets of nature’s beauty
Dr Natasha Ellison is a Mathematical Ecologist, currently working as a Postdoctoral Associate at Mississippi State University. Prior to her current position she taught in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield. She completed a PhD with Dr Jonathan Potts and Professor Ben Hatchwell, focussing on partial differential equation and individual-based models of the home range patterns of Long Tailed Tits.
Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress-reducing
Richard Taylor is an expert in chaos theory, fractals, and the relationship between art and science. At the University of Oregon, he is a professor of physics, psychology and art, and the director of the Materials Science Institute. Richard’s research focuses on “bioinspiration” in which artificial systems benefit from using nature’s patterns (fractals and chaos). His two biggest projects are 1) using bio-inspired retinal implants to restore vision to victims of retinal diseases and 2) using bio-inspired fractal images to reduce people’s stress levels. He also uses computer analysis to study and authenticate art works. Richard is considered the leading expert on the artist Jackson Pollock.