Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the Budapest University of technology and Economics and the University of Debrecen came to the conclusion that the Greek philosopher Plato was right in asserting that the Earth is composed of cubes. This writes ScienceDailt.
In fact, a question that scientists have searched for the answer, was, what form will arise if we break the stone into small pieces. To do this, they created a geometric model that is sliced at random into two pieces, and then another and another and eventually received a “pile of cubes”.
“To explain the insight Plato seems to be that the parts of the once United the whole must connect without gaps. And the only polyhedron that connects without gaps — this — cube”, — stated in the description of the study.
In order to check the correctness of their mathematical models, the scientists measured a variety of stones in nature. Some of them have been chipped by man, others weathered the forces of nature, but in any case, on average the particles were cubes.
At the same time, they found a place on Earth where the violation of the “rule of Plato”. This is the giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, with its high vertical columns. This anomaly, scientists explain the unusual process of cooling of the basalt.
“Nine times out of ten, if the stone is broken, compressed, or cut and typically these forces occur together — you have the fragments, which on average have a cubic shape. Only if the stress, get something else. The earth just does not do it often,” the researchers note.
In fact, scientists have answered the question, what shapes are created when rocks are broken into pieces. Interestingly, they found that the main mathematical hypothesis unites geological processes not only on Earth but around the Solar system.
“The solar system is filled with ice and stones, which continuously collide with each other,” the article says.
