Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

_Dnikeb t1_jefotiw wrote

Yup. Grab a bunch of straws or balloons, press them together, they're going to spontaneously arrange themselves into hexagons.

Also if you examine a bee or wasp comb from up close, you'll realize the outermost cells are still mostly round, because they're not completely surrounded by other cells.

120

proggR t1_jeg0hus wrote

Another fun experiment that will take some wonder out of the "but how did so many civs arrive at a pyramid?!"

Take a square box and put it in a sandbox, and then overload with sand it until the scoops just run down the side and no longer "stack"... voila... you've just made a pyramid! lol

52

TruthOf42 t1_jegadp6 wrote

Don't you mean a cone?

14

proggR t1_jegbon7 wrote

Given the square shape of the container, from the time I've played in the sandbox it comes out with proper edges like a pyramid (though clearly rounded to some degree). Or if its a rectangular container you'll get something like an Acadian style roof.

26

pongnguy t1_jefy678 wrote

Good observation! So it's not surface tension as claimed in the article. If it was only surface tension, I think isolated circular tubes would solidify into a hexagon as well.

I notice a lot of research papers exagerate their findings, and in some cases are just plain wrong, some fraudulently so (see Alzheimer's research scandal).

2

craigdahlke OP t1_jeg14zk wrote

Not so. The article is not exaggerating anything here, if you read it carefully. As another user pointed out, an isolated cell will conform to a circle. The crucial point here is that there is a 3-way junction between the cells that pulls equally in all 3 directions. And it makes sense if you think about it as well. 360 degrees (all directions) divided equally into 3 (surface tensions pulling equally in 3 directions) you get 120 degrees. Which is also, you guessed it, the interior angle of each vertex of a hexagon!

The example with the bundle of straws works on a similar concept, except instead of pulling, you are applying a force to the perimeter of a circle from 6 different directions. 360/6 = 60 degrees, the central angle made by dividing the perimeter into 6 straight sections (I. E. a hexagon).

25

dougglatt69 t1_jefzzr2 wrote

Actually you've got it backwards. Surface tension is going to pull an isolated cell into a circle as it minimizes length. Of the cell walls. When the circular cells are adjacent. The hexagon shape minimizes the length of the cell walls for adjacent cells

5

heisdeadjim_au t1_jegi9sz wrote

I did this yesterday. You're completely correct.

Chef wanted some Australian native bee honeycomb as an accoutriment to a dish. We got delivered the frame from the hive today.

Fascinating, and, rather tasty!

2