Inhabitat - 8/19/11, Andrew Michler
Aidan Dwyer took a hike through the trees last winter and took notice of patterns in the mangle of branches. His studies into how they branch in very specific ways lead him to a central guiding formula, the Fibonacci sequence. Take a number, add it to the number before it in a sequence like 1+1=2 then 2+1=3 then 3+2=5, 8, 13, 21 and so on a very specific pattern emerges. Turns out the pattern and its corresponding ratios are reflected in nature all the time, and Aidan’s keen observation of how trees branch according to the formula lead him to test the theory. First he measured tree branches by how often they branch and at what degree from each other.
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Comments
I appreciate what you have accomplished Aidan
Reading this little story about you sent my neurons in a tissy. I have always thought the flat panels were a square peg in a round hole. I also believe that a spherical solar collector may be ineffecient too. But, your "leaves" could be concave even just slightly may achive more collection from each "leaf". Then came to mind, placing your tree in a highly reflective parabalic dish...then 2face each leaf. The tree gives a great base for creative thought. Few people look at a tree and see a kitchen table either. Hardly any will see stacks of paper or cardboard boxes. This trend of not seeing potential in all things really needs to come to an end. It is more than appropriate that one of the leaders in thinking outside of the box is a 13 year old. His environment clearly encourgages him with materials and tools. There used to be a group in Minnesota called the Minnesota Inventors Congress. They would have a showing of new ideas and practical applications - inventions every year. They also assisted in the patent process. It takes a village.