Científicos descubren un patrón de Voronoi en las hojas de la planta del dinero china

Investigadores han identificado un patrón geométrico natural conocido como diagrama de Voronoi en las hojas de la planta del dinero china. El descubrimiento revela cómo la planta organiza sus poros y venas utilizando principios comunes en la planificación urbana y el diseño de redes.

Un equipo del Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory mapeó los diminutos poros y las venas entrelazadas en las hojas de Pilea peperomioides. Descubrieron que las estructuras dividen el espacio naturalmente alrededor de puntos centrales de la misma manera que los diagramas de Voronoi en las matemáticas y la informática. El profesor asociado Saket Navlakha dirigió el trabajo junto a la ex estudiante de posgrado Cici Zheng y el colaborador Przemysław Prusinkiewicz.

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