Patterns in nature: more than an inspiring design

Abstract

At all scales and both in animate and inanimate systems, nature displays a wide variety of colors, rhythms, and forms. For decades, these natural patterns and rhythms have been studied and used as a source of inspiration for the technological development and well-being of human beings. Today we understand that the design of these patterns responds to principles of functionality and efficiency. This article focuses on physicochemical aspects to show how the study of spatiotemporal patterns became such an important area of interest and research for natural sciences. In particular, we address some systems in which the formation of patterns is explained by the coupling between chemical and transport processes, such as chemical gardens, periodic precipitation and Turing patterns. © 2017. Acad. Colomb. Cienc. Ex. Fis. Nat.