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- In two dimensions, soft cells have curved boundaries with two pinched corners called cusps. Shapes of this type are observable in nautilus shells, zebra stripes, river islands and even in the cross-section of an onion, per a statement from the University of Oxford.
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mathematicians-discover-a-new-class-of-shape-the-soft-cell-180985124/Mathematicians Discover a New Class of Shape: the ‘Soft Cell’
Sep 12, 2024 · Soft cells appear to be geometric building blocks of biological tissue and their existence opens up an array of questions in geometry and biology. Necessary conditions for generating soft tilings could shed new light on why certain patterns are preferred by nature.
Sep 20, 2024 · Examples of 2D soft cells in nature include an onion’s cross-section, biological tissue cells, and islands formed by erosion in rivers. In 3D, the shapes can be found in nautilus shell...
- Andrew Paul
Feb 26, 2024 · A new class of mathematical shapes called soft cells can be used to describe how a remarkable variety of patterns in living organisms – such as muscle cells and nautilus shells – form and grow.
Smooth muscle cells or skin cells (right) are another example of 'soft cells' that occur in nature. - Image credit: Getty. But the researchers behind the new study have discovered it is possible to tesselate a fully rounded shape in 3D – such as the chambers of a nautilus shell (the spiralling mollusc with orange stripes).
Feb 28, 2024 · Soft cells are described as natural tiles with curved edges—a stark contrast to the mathematical solutions for creating tiling shapes. The soft cells then smoothly deform into tiles...
Sep 20, 2024 · ‘Soft cells’ — shapes with rounded corners and pointed tips that fit together on a plane — feature in onions, molluscs and more. By. Philip Ball. The chambers of the nautilus shell can be...
