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Bicycle Riding on Square Wheels

Posted by Hemos on from the larnin'-more dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Before starting our long working week, let's relax with this story of a bicycle with square wheels. No, it's not a joke. And it even rides smoothly. But there is a trick: the road must have a specific shape. The Math Trek section of Science News Online tells us more about this strange bicycle -- actually a tricycle with two front wheels and one back wheel. Read this overview for some excerpts and a picture of the tricycle, or the original article for an additional animation."

3 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Woohoo! by spellraiser · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Great!

    Now all we need is to lay some curved roads all over the place, make loads of these bikes, and we can all ride bicycles with square-shaped wheels!

    I'm calling my Senator right now!

    --
    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  2. So much for by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1, Redundant
    So much for reinventing the wheel.

    And I was always told that was the wrong approach to use.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  3. Wheel / Road Same Shape? by SlipJig · · Score: 1, Redundant

    So far, no one has found a road-and wheel combination in which the road has the same shape as the wheel. That's an intriguing challenge for mathematicians.

    Seems to me you could ride a bike with circular wheels on the inside (or outside) of a circular track (2001 space odyssey-style). The wheels and road would have the same shape then, right?

    --
    Read my keyboard review.