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Science

DetlefK

(16,670 posts)

5. Concerning the theory at the end of the article:

Reply to dipsydoodle (Original post)

Wed Apr 3, 2013, 07:56 AM

Apr 2013

It can't be a phenomenon of the plants in general: If the pattern were a collective build-up of a behavior of individual plants, seeking to establish a preferred distance to neighbors, those rings would have melded into a hex-pattern (because hexagons can cover a 2-dimensional surface with a minimum of edges/closest neighbors) over the course of generations.

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Termites 'engineer fairy circles' [View all] dipsydoodle Mar 2013 OP

Very cool! In_The_Wind Mar 2013 #1

I bet the clever little rascals couldn't do this dipsydoodle Mar 2013 #2

They're also taking over New Orleans caseymoz Mar 2013 #3

they covered this on All Things Considered BainsBane Apr 2013 #4

Concerning the theory at the end of the article: DetlefK Apr 2013 #5