[HN Gopher] Why did these algae grow like this in the pool? ___________________________________________________________________ Why did these algae grow like this in the pool? Author : pyinstallwoes Score : 57 points Date : 2023-07-22 10:43 UTC (12 hours ago) (HTM) web link (physics.stackexchange.com) (TXT) w3m dump (physics.stackexchange.com) | dvh wrote: | Could it be a stalks of higher plants? | mytailorisrich wrote: | > _The third hypothesis (contributed) is then that the tapered | shape arises from gas-buoyancy-driven detachment and ascent of | portions of the algae mat._ | | This is what happens. If you look closely when you see this | phenomenon, you'll see that bubbles form and pull the algae mat | upwards. | civilitty wrote: | They also use gas vesicles: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_vesicle | | Lots of photosynthetic species have similar adaptations like | the bulbs you see on kelp on the beach: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatocyst | hilbert42 wrote: | Whether correct or not, they're brilliant answers! :-) | mellosouls wrote: | The intelligence on display in the physics and particularly the | maths stackexchanges is quite humbling at times. | n3storm wrote: | then somebody with K followers says something randomly | paranoid and stupid about "X" and has people kneeling cause | dared to speak "the truth" | [deleted] | NotYourLawyer wrote: | As usual, half the responses miss the forest for the trees. | Arguing about why it's not actually 1/(x^2 + y^2) is the worst | kind of pedantry. | pests wrote: | I thought the same thing. Half the answers were about | calculating the perfect mathematical shape completely | unaswering anything about the origin of the phenomenon. The | shape wasn't even in the original question at all but only | included as an example (how would he even measure it?) ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-07-22 23:00 UTC)