Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers

treehugger.com 23 Aug '12, 12pm

Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers

Sunflowers are beautiful, and iconic for the way their giant yellow heads stand off against a bold blue sky. And of course most of us love to munch on the seeds they produce. However, have you ever stopped to look at the pattern of seeds held within the center of these special flowers? Sunflowers are more than just beautiful food -- they're also a mathematical marvel. The pattern of seeds within a sunflower follows the Fibonacci sequence, or 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144... If you remember back to math class, each number in the sequence is the sum of the previous two numbers. In sunflowers, the spirals you see in the center are generated from this sequence -- there are two series of curves winding in opposite directions, starting at the center and stretching out to the petals, with each seed sitting at a certain angle from the neighboring seeds to create the spira...

Full article: http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/natural-sciences/nat...

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@carolleisa » 20 Sep '12, 9pm
RT @JulieDaniluk: Nature Blows My Mind! The Math of Sunflowers via @TreeHugger [link]
@treehuggeruk » 19 Sep '12, 8am
RT @MyTreeTV: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@RangeWoman_Inc » 16 Sep '12, 6pm
Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers: TreeHugger [link] #science #nature
@treehuggeruk » 15 Sep '12, 11pm
RT @OGBackyard: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@ISF_GAGIRL » 14 Sep '12, 2pm
@Lorel_EE This reminds me of u Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 14 Sep '12, 12pm
RT @Artsmonkey1: RT @alionfriday: This is pretty awesome :-) "The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers" TreeHugger [link] via @ ...
@treehuggeruk » 14 Sep '12, 9am
RT @alionfriday: This is pretty awesome :-) "The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers" TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@alionfriday » 14 Sep '12, 9am
This is pretty awesome :-) "The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers" TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 13 Sep '12, 8pm
RT @Chiloreds: Blow your mind ~~> [link]
@treehuggeruk » 12 Sep '12, 4pm
RT @SyonLane: The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@treehuggeruk » 12 Sep '12, 3am
RT @BethChurchill: Sunflower Seeds' Fibonacci: TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 12 Sep '12, 12am
RT @LauraleeAlben: From van Gogh to Fibonacci: The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers: [link] via @TreeHugger
@LauraleeAlben » 12 Sep '12, 12am
From van Gogh to Fibonacci: The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers: [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 10 Sep '12, 1pm
RT @ddpearly: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 09 Sep '12, 1am
RT @island45iers: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@kavithak » 08 Sep '12, 6pm
Ever held a sunflower and looked into the hypnotic patterns at its core? #Nature 's beauty is a mathematical marvel ! [link]
@treehuggeruk » 05 Sep '12, 4am
RT @recyclebitch: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 04 Sep '12, 5am
RT @SageCarrington: Another mind blowing creation of #nature. The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@SageCarrington » 04 Sep '12, 5am
Another mind blowing creation of #nature. The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@treehuggeruk » 02 Sep '12, 7pm
RT @debvane: The Math of Sunflowers. [link]
@treehuggeruk » 02 Sep '12, 6pm
RT @CarolinAramburo: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers-- [link] #green #nature
@shellshockuk » 31 Aug '12, 3pm
Look at this for a minute and you get sucked right in ---> The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@agencythoughts » 30 Aug '12, 8pm
A big tweet to end a suny day in #Orillia! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 30 Aug '12, 7pm
RT @CarolLynnRivera: Sunflowers and math? You bet! (Not for the number-phobes) [link]
@CarolLynnRivera » 30 Aug '12, 7pm
Sunflowers and math? You bet! (Not for the number-phobes) [link]
@treehuggeruk » 30 Aug '12, 7pm
RT @ArielDarkStar: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 30 Aug '12, 3pm
RT @OMG_Products: Nature can really blow your mind! [link]
@OMG_Products » 30 Aug '12, 3pm
Nature can really blow your mind! [link]
@treehuggeruk » 29 Aug '12, 11pm
RT @silvanabettiol: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 29 Aug '12, 4pm
RT @beingstray: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : [link]
@firstchoicepwr » 28 Aug '12, 3pm
The pattern of seeds held within the center of sunflowers follows a mathematical sequence! [link]
@treehuggeruk » 28 Aug '12, 1pm
RT @lionelltheleo: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 27 Aug '12, 3am
RT @planetbluesky: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@TuringSunflower » 25 Aug '12, 2pm
“@OrchardSupply: Check out this pretty cool article about #sunflowers, the image is shockingly beautiful! [link]” TS article
@MurfAD » 24 Aug '12, 7pm
Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic #Fibonacci Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] #MathIsFun
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 6pm
RT @OrchardSupply: Check out this pretty cool article about #sunflowers, the image is shockingly beautiful! [link]
@OrchardSupply » 24 Aug '12, 6pm
Check out this pretty cool article about #sunflowers, the image is shockingly beautiful! [link]
@PolkCubiche » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
RT @nellywagner: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@nzeke » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
RT @rwr3peat: Crazy. The pattern of seeds within a sunflower follows the Fibonacci sequence, or 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... [link]
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
RT @FullCircle_PR: Amazing! RT @discoveryplace: RT @TreeHugger: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@FullCircle_PR » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
Amazing! RT @discoveryplace: RT @TreeHugger: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
RT @discoveryplace: RT @treehugger: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers [link]
@TreeHugger » 24 Aug '12, 5pm
Do you have any sunflower photos? We want to see! Post to our @Flickr group [link] or FB or Instagram. [link]
@VEO71 » 24 Aug '12, 4pm
@coleeveri Thought you might enjoy this... [link]
@rwr3peat » 24 Aug '12, 4pm
Crazy. The pattern of seeds within a sunflower follows the Fibonacci sequence, or 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... [link]
@christackett » 24 Aug '12, 4pm
Sunflowers. Have you seen these things? Whoa. #NatureBlowsMyMind! @JaymiHeimbuch explains the pattern of seeds. [link]
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 3pm
RT @JamesEMartin2: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 12pm
RT @sheziin: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers : TreeHugger [link] via @TreeHugger
@treehuggeruk » 24 Aug '12, 12pm
RT @SoyEcoista: Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers: Sunflowers are one of summer's staples but h... [link] #soyeco
@SoyEcoista » 24 Aug '12, 12pm
Nature Blows My Mind! The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers: Sunflowers are one of summer's staples but h... [link] #soyeco