Rat moustaches and mathematics
2020/01/28 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia
Sometimes chemists research geology, sometimes physicists look for the keys to genetics, and sometimes engineers dive into ecology. And it can be said that it is not only sometimes. It is frequent. Many scientists put their nose in a field that orthodoxy does not supposedly indicate.
Sometimes, in addition, the combination is very striking. For example, mathematicians and nature. How many patterns have mathematicians sought in the structures of living beings: the patterns of sea shells, the cultivation of a pineapple, the distribution of species in a territory, or the evolution of predator and prey populations, among others. Natural accounts that do not occur to us can also have a mathematical explanation.
As an example, two teams from London and Manchester have teamed up to investigate the mathematics of rat whiskers. These moustaches are hairs that by themselves leave the end, and the ideal name are the vibrations. In addition to rats and rodents, cats and cats also have vibrations. They are hairs, but not like our hairs, since the sensors of the different senses of the rat are in the vibrations. They perceive vibrations, measure temperature and an important part of touch is based on those “whiskers”.
It is very important, therefore, the position, shape and curvature and size of each vibris. This is what English scientists have studied in 523 rats and found a mathematical distribution of the properties of vibrations. They are described by a spiral of Euler. Put informally, a simple formula describes the moustaches of the rat.
Mathematics, in general, describes shapes, geometry, etc. but they are not exact. Perfection must be described. For example, mathematics would describe the human body well through symmetry. We have one arm on one side, another on the other, one leg on one side, another on the other, etc. However, closely watched, we all have one leg longer than the other. Or one arm above the other, for example. And there are no simple mathematical formulas that describe these details.
For example, a scientific illustrator who was developing a three-dimensional model of a Nautilus initially engaged in the number of gold, because in theory the shape of the shell grows according to the number of gold. But when comparing the three-dimensional model with the shell of a real nautical, the model did not correspond.
Therefore, simple mathematics can give an interesting description of nature, but reality is much more complex.
Gai honi buruzko eduki gehiago
Elhuyarrek garatutako teknologia
