"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Fano varieties are known as the basic “atomic structure” of geometry, but are notoriously difficult to ...

In an old Indian parable, six blind men each touch a different part of an elephant. They disagree about what the elephant must look like: Is it smooth or rough? Is it like a snake (so thinks the man ...

In nature, many things have evolved that differ in size, color and, above all, in shape. While the color or size of an object can be easily described, the description of a shape is more complicated.

Sometimes visualising a geometrical proof can make understanding it so much easier. Now mathematicians Elizabeth Slavkovsky and Oliver Knill, both of Harvard University, have taken a step in that ...

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.

Everyone knows that additive manufacturing processes can make intricate, seemingly impossible mathematical shapes. Here is a sample STL file of one of these extraordinary shapes. ... Everyone knows ...

Don't be surprised to see pills with unusual shapes in the future. At first sight they may look funny, but they can release pharmaceuticals inside the body in a controlled manner. Using a combination ...

Fano varieties are known as the basic “atomic structure” of geometry, but are notoriously difficult to discover and organize. Scientists from the Imperial College of London have been attempting to ...