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Thomas Woolley

@thomasewoolley.bsky.social

166 followers 26 following 7 posts

Mathematical biologist and outreacher extraordinaire. Reader at Cardiff University

Posts Replies Media

Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Lovely email to get on a Monday morning "Dear Thomas Woolley, Congratulations! It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been nominated for Most Outstanding Learning Experience in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2026!" We don't do it for the awards, but nominations are nice.

Dear Thomas Woolley,
Congratulations!
It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been nominated for Most Outstanding Learning Experience in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2026!

Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

So, why does it matter? Explicitly, I've shown that we have to be careful when approximating geometries in applications. Curved edges can fundamentally alter what it means for a domain to be 1D, or 2D. #TuringPatterns #MathBio #AppliedMaths #PatternFormation @springernature.com

A range of Turing patterns on different domains.

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Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Although the patterns on ellipses do tend to circle-like behaviour they don't tend to act like lines as the ellipses become thinner. To explain this I had to use Mathieu equations, which first appeared in 1868! Mathematics: once true, always true.

Illustrating patterning bifurcation points. The square point represents the solution for the 1D line. The diamonds points represent ellipses and the circle point represents the solution for the circle domain. As you can see, the ellipses don't connect the square and circle points.

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Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Due to their simplicity, rectangular and circular domains are often used to represent reality as they make the mathematics easier to work with. I assumed I could use an elliptical domain to interpolate between the circle and the thin rectangle. How wrong I was.

An elliptical coordinate system linking the flat line and the circle.

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Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

🎉 New paper out! 🥳 rdcu.be/e5A3P Turing patterns are a wonderful mathematical framework for generating nature’s pattern. I thought I understood them. But they can still lead to surprises!

A Turing simulation on a circle, rectangle, and ellipse domain (top to bottom). As the domains grow, left to right, patterns appear on the domains at different points.

Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Beautiful Christmath trees by Daniel Mentrard. www.geogebra.org/m/fgdr5ama

Reposted by Thomas Woolley

Paul Macklin @mathcancer.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

And listen to the whole podcast here! Many greats in this podcast with far better answers, like @adamlmaclean.bsky.social, @amyhurford.bsky.social, @gosiaweh.bsky.social, @thomasewoolley.bsky.social ! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

podcasts.apple.com

S3 Ep1: SMB 2025

Podcast Episode · Biology in Numbers · 09/29/2025 · 53m

Thomas Woolley @thomasewoolley.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Woohoo! @smbmathbiology.bsky.social #SMB2025

Reposted by Thomas Woolley

B&W Thornton of Stratford-upon-Avon @bwthornton.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

#TheInfiniteMonkeyCage Nature's Shapes - @davegorman.bsky.social, @sarah-hart.bsky.social and @thomasewoolley.bsky.social Today 11:00 BBC Radio 4 @profbriancox.bsky.social and @robinince.bsky.social reveal the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 32, Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley

Brian Cox and Robin Ince reveal the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature

Reposted by Thomas Woolley

Eek Oh @eekoh.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Nature’s Shapes with @davegorman.bsky.social @sarah-hart.bsky.social and @thomasewoolley.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley

Podcast Episode · The Infinite Monkey Cage · 26/03/2025 · 42m

Reposted by Thomas Woolley

Dr Ben King 🌍 @benking01.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

The most interesting of episodes of The Infinite Monkey Cage for someone who, like me, is fascinated by #Physics #Nature #Mathematics #Comedy Nature's Shapes 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... HT @bbcsounds.bsky.social @davegorman.bsky.social @profbriancox.bsky.social @thomasewoolley.bsky.social

The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 32 - Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley - BBC Sounds

Brian Cox and Robin Ince reveal the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature.