This 'scutoid' thing is such a lovely illustration of the mathematical incompetence and tastelessness of most science journalists, swarming around press releases like flies around dumpsters.
-
-
It's mostly not even the fault of math/science journalists I think (except at a couple of removes) - it's that most write for publications that, often correctly, think they need to reduce things to a very low common denominator - or lose readers.
-
AKA "why read anything but specialist publications, everything else is dumbed down to the point of being wrong/deceptive"
-
Man, just websearch 'scutoid' and look at all the shit outlets turning out carbon copies of the same article.
-
I can't access the New Scientist article without paying, but "scutoid" reads to me as "shield-shaped", which isn't what I'd use to describe that shape (and I have mucked around a lot with shields).
-
I figured that it referred to interlocking shapes resembling a Roman shield wall -- but it doesn't!
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
. Banned in Sweden. SubGenius, Zhuangist, white-hat troll. Defrocked mathematician. Brain problems.