Nature's Hidden Prime Number Code

[hope]

Nature's hidden number code.

Prime numbers are hidden in nature, but humans have made spectacular use of them, writes mathematician
Marcus du Sautoy.

Ever since humans evolved on this planet we have been trying to make sense of the world around us.
We have attempted to explain why the world looks and behaves the way it does, to predict what the future
holds. And in our search for answers we have uncovered a code that makes sense of the huge complexity that
confronts us - mathematics.

By translating nature into the code of numbers we have revealed hidden structures and patterns that control
our environment.
But not only that, by tapping into nature's code we have been able to change our surroundings, have built
extraordinary cities, and developed technology that has resulted in the modern world.

Buzzing quietly beneath the planet we inhabit is an unseen world of numbers, patterns and geometry.
Mathematics is the code that makes sense of our universe.

In the forests of Tennessee this summer, part of this code literally bursts from the ground, Nashville is usually
home to the sound of blue grass and honky tonk, but every 13 years, the banjos and basses get drowned out
for six weeks by the chorus of an insect that has fascinated me ever since I became a mathematician.
Only found in eastern areas of North America, this cicadas survival depends on exploiting the strange
properties of some of the most fundamental numbers in mathematics - the primes, numbers that are only
divisable by themselves and one.

The cicadas appear periodically but only emerge after a prime number of years, In the case of the brood
appearing around Nashville this year, 13 years. The forest have been quiet for 12 years since the last invasion
of these mathematical bugs in 1998 and the locals won't be disturbed by the, again until 2024.

The choice of a 13-year cycle doesn't seem too arbititary, there are another two broods across America that
also have this 13-year life cycle, appearing in different regions and different years. In addition there are 12
broods that appear every 17years.

You could just dismiss these numbers as random. But it's very curious that there are no cicadas with 12, 14,
15, 16 or 18-year life cycles.
However look at these cicadas through the mathematician's eyes and a pattern begins to emerge.
Because 13 and 17 are both indivisible Thai gives the cicadas an evolutionary advantage as primes are helpful
in avoiding other animals with periodic behaviour. Suppose for example that a predator appears every six years
in the forest, then a cicada with and eight or nine-year life cycle will coincide with the predator much more
often than a cicada with a seven-year prime life cycle.

These insects are tapping into the code of mathematics for their survival. The cicadas unwittingly discovered
the primes using evolutionary tactics but humans have understood that these numbers not just the key to
survival but are the very building blocks of the code of mathematics.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14305667

http://www.973-eht-namuh-973.com/Alchem ... ERS%20.htm



http://www.973-eht-namuh-973.com/Alchem ... 201172.htm

[Redbeck]

Well, well Hope, many congratulations I spotted your latest submission pop up as post number 3999 on the Oracle Forum this afternoon, before braving the elements, as the mercury plummeted and I followed suit. There may not be a prize, but rest assured the forum community is eternally grateful for your tireless pageant of intellectually persuasive and enjoyable pieces. Hopefully, we can look forward to many more being nurtured in the outer wood incubator. Kind Regards Redbeck

[packajos000]