Meet the Scutoid

August 3, 2018 10:49 AM

Scientists have discovered a new shape [Nature]. Matt Parker, with some help from Laura Taalman and Clara Grima, is here to explain [YouTube].

Matt Parker previously, previouslier, previousliest.

posted by noneuclidean (6 comments total)

Username does not check out.
posted by Think_Long at 10:54 AM on August 3, 2018 [9 favorites]

Totally, totally fascinating. Apparently, it's: "Biologists discovery a new shape in nature (cell structures) and turn to mathematicians and physicists to formalize what the heck it is and why (as a matter of energy consumption) it happens."
posted by The Bellman at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2018 [12 favorites]

I'm worried that these scutoids do not feature a reliably flared base.
posted by blakewest at 1:04 PM on August 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Interesting. The first thing I thought of when looking at Fig. 1d was the shape of pomegranate seeds. I guess it's a similar packing problem.
posted by heatherlogan at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I like how he described the scutoid as somewhere between a prism and a prismatoid, and the problem of describing its faces as somewhere between geometry and topology. Mathematical biology is full of fun little problems that force you to find solutions that are somewhere between one thing and another.
posted by biogeo at 7:44 PM on August 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

He had me at "Here Y am stuck in the middle with scu... toid."

Yeah, that was a real Parker Square of a joke.
posted by biogeo at 7:46 PM on August 3, 2018