[HN Gopher] First known fractal molecule
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       First known fractal molecule
        
       Author : wjSgoWPm5bWAhXB
       Score  : 81 points
       Date   : 2024-04-17 10:57 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (newatlas.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (newatlas.com)
        
       | notfed wrote:
       | What....is the name of the molecule....?
        
         | lgas wrote:
         | From https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07287-2:
         | 
         | Here we report the discovery of a natural protein, citrate
         | synthase from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, which
         | self-assembles into Sierpinski triangles.
        
       | oersted wrote:
       | Look at the electron microscope images! I expected it would
       | roughly look like a fractal, but it is so clean, it looks
       | artificial.
       | 
       | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07287-2/figures/1
        
         | pyinstallwoes wrote:
         | Tetragrammaton, Tetracys
         | 
         | > Bless us, divine number, thou who generated gods and men! O
         | holy, holy Tetractys, thou that containest the root and source
         | of the eternally flowing creation! For the divine number begins
         | with the profound, pure unity until it comes to the holy four;
         | then it begets the mother of all, the all-comprising, all-
         | bounding, the first-born, the never-swerving, the never-tiring
         | holy ten, the keyholder of all.
         | 
         | > By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high, nature's
         | eternal fountain and supply, the parent of all souls that
         | living be, by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee.
        
         | jimmiles wrote:
         | Hopefully nothing to do with Andromeda Strain
         | https://i.imgflip.com/1led1b.gif
        
       | bradrn wrote:
       | Slight correction to the title: the fractal is not a _single_
       | molecule, but composed of many copies of a molecule which self-
       | assemble to form a fractal. (Though the difference is very minor,
       | and arguably irrelevant for many purposes.)
        
       | binary132 wrote:
       | Ah yes, zeldite triforcease
        
         | mid-kid wrote:
         | Newcules can't trifroce
        
       | cnity wrote:
       | I personally find the explanation very satisfying, actually! So
       | many fractals are a complex embodiment of a simple rule, and this
       | idea (complexity from simplicity) permeates everything in the
       | natural world. That this extends to proteins is a wonderful
       | discovery.
        
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       (page generated 2024-04-18 23:02 UTC)