Turing's Nature Patterns - Code 4

The great crested newt is an amphibian and hibernates during the winter. However, on a rainy night in March, great crested newts return to the very same pond where they were born to breed. A male great crested newt will use his tail to dance in order to attract a female. The female will lay about 200 eggs, which then become tadpoles and later turn into newtlets. It can take a great crested newt 4 years to reach adulthood.

The skin is black or dark brown, but the belly is bright orange with black blotches. These are controlled by the rules of Turing’s Patterns. Their skin is also covered with a horrible smelling substance to put predators off eating them!

The U-boat threat

Meanwhile, cargo ships were bringing essential food and supplies to Britain. However, lots of these ships were sunk by submarines. For example, the Otaio, which was built here in Barrow, was torpedoed and sunk by a submarine in 1941. The Nazi’s submarines (U-boats) were sinking so many supply ships that there was a risk that Britain would soon be starving. The Prime Minister Winston Churchill later said that this was the only thing that ever really scared him during the war. Turing personally broke the form of the Enigma code that was used by the Nazis’ submarines, enabling the our ships to avoid them and reach Britain safely. 

Good luck with the next code!

Code: Could a row really invalidate our nuptials? Cranky ringbearer overthrows wedding!