Tech

What fractals, Fibonacci, and the golden ratio have to do with cauliflower

Enlarge / Macro-photo of green Romanesco cauliflower showcases the vegetable’s striking fractal pattern. (credit: Cathy Scola / Getty Images ) It’s long been observed that many plants produce leaves, shoots, or flowers in spiral patterns. Cauliflower provides a unique example of this phenomenon, because those spirals repeat at several different size scales—a hallmark of fractal […]

Tech

Mathematicians may have unlocked the secret of how “stone forests” form

Enlarge / The Stone Forest (Shilin) in China’s Yunnan Province may be the result of solids dissolving into liquids in the presence of gravity, producing natural convective flows. There are many wondrous geologic formations in nature, from Giant’s Causeway in Ireland to Castleton Tower in Utah, and the various processes by which such structures form […]