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:
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
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.
Storms
Even Galaxies!
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