From mirror-image butterfly wings to the repeating fractal patterns of fern fronds, most living things display some kind of symmetry - yet the reason why has remained a mystery. In March, a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offered an explanation: Evolution tends toward symmetry because it's easier. While simulating the formation of viruses' protein shells, researchers noticed that symmetrical shapes cropped up much more frequently than pure randomness might suggest. To a computer programmer, however, this makes sense: It's easier to encode instructions for a simple shape and repeat that than it is to come up with loads of complex, one-off directions.
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