[HN Gopher] Why did these algae grow like this in the pool?
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       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?)
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-22 23:00 UTC)