Is there a magical equation that describes the universe?
We all know that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42 - (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) but is there any equation that describes the universe?
In 1202, Leonardo Pisano (aka Fibonacci) conducted a thought experiment about rabbits…well breeding like rabbits. If a pair of rabbits breeds and every female gives birth to a male and female, how many pairs of rabbits would there be in a year?
The sequence that came from this was:
1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144
Each number is the sum of the previous two numbers.’
Drawn on a page it looks like this:
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Well that’s pretty but,, so what?
Well it turns out that this sequence of numbers pops up throughout nature.
The spirals in a sunflower
The family tree of honeybees
Shells
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The human body…1 nose, 2 eyes, 3 segments to each limb, 5 tigers on each hand, DNA is 21 ansgtroms wide and 34 angstroms long per each fully cycle of the double helix.
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Storms
Even Galaxies!
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So there you go, we still do not know why this is the case but I still think it is Weird and Wonderful that it does!
References:
https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2018/09/23/the-universe-in-a-spiral/
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-beautiful-examples-fibonacci-sequence-nature
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/how-golden-ratio-manifests-nature