Spiral Turbulence: From the Oxidation of CO on Pt(110) to Ventricular Fibrillation

We give a brief overview of systems that show spiral patterns and spatiotemporally chaotic states. We concentrate on two physical systems: (1) the oxidation of CO on Pt(110) and (2) ventricular fibrillation in hearts. The equations that have been suggested as simple models for these two different systems are closely related for they are both {\it excitable media}. We present these equations and give a short summary of the phenomena they yield.}