What Birds Know About Fractal Geometry 74
sciencehabit writes "In a new study, researchers find that a single number that describes the complexity of feather patterns on bird chests, a parameter called the fractal dimension, is linked to whether a bird has a strong immune system or is malnourished. When scientists restricted the food of red-legged partridges, the patterns on their chests had a lower fractal dimension than those sported by their well-fed colleagues. The food-restricted birds, on average, weighed 13% less than their well-fed colleagues and had weaker immune systems, which makes fractal dimension an easily recognizable sign of a potential mate's health and vitality, the researchers contend."
Re:Call it what you will (Score:5, Funny)
"a story will come out saying men and women at nightclubs perform complex trig to find mates."
Hey , you've obviously never tried to look cool in front of some babes at a club while carrying a load of beers and having to carefully avoid all the drunks and druggies swaying about by calculating the optimal path across the dancefloor cross referenced in the time domain against the beat of the music!