Sea mollusc shells are patterned not through conscious control, but by chemistry acting at the shell’s growing edge. A thin strip of tissue known as the mantle secretes both the shell material and its ...

University of California, Berkeley, graduate student Alistair Boettiger has amassed a beautiful collection of seashells, but not by combing the beach. He created them in his computer. He and George ...

Mollusks add daily to the margins of their shells, producing intricate patterns prized by beachcombers. Though this seems complex, the process can actually be explained by a simple network of nerve ...