http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3201424/A-new-way-tile-floor-Scientists-discover-strange-new-shape-trying-solve-one-maths-complex-problems.html
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Three scientists have made maths history by finding a new type of pentagon that can tile a floor without overlapping or leaving any gaps. It's what researchers call 'tiling the plane' and their discovery is only the 15th type of non-regular pentagon that can do this, with the last one found 30 years ago
The discovery was made by researchers at Washington University using a computer program written by an undergraduate student.
The scientists included mathematics associate professor Casey Mann and his wife, Jennifer McLoud-Mann, along with undergraduate researcher David Von Derau.
The research could also have practical uses in many areas, including biochemistry and structural design.
'Many structures that we see in nature, from crystals to viruses, are comprised of building blocks that are forced by geometry and other dynamics to fit together to form the larger scale structure,' Mann told the Guardian.
'Aside from the practical uses of this new knowledge, which would include a whole different way to tile a floor,' he added.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3201424/A-new-way-tile-floor-Scientists-discover-strange-new-shape-trying-solve-one-maths-complex-problems.html#ixzz4zgqoTW5D
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