Using Math To Better Understand River, Valley Networks Lee
Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Researchers
wrote in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they have used math to explain
different characteristics of river and valley networks. Rivers
and valleys form intricate branching patterns, which have
inspired some scientists to develop a theoretical understanding
of river-network geometry. MIT scientists have created a
mathematical theory to discover a common angle at which valleys
branch off. The theory predicts that rivers branch at an angle
of 72 degrees. To put the theory to test, the team measured
5,000 branching angles in the Florida Panhandle, and found that
branching was indeed 72 degrees. Dan Rothman, a professor of
geophysics in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and
Planetary Sciences (EAPS), said the mathematical analysis may be
applicable to other systems, like neuron dendrites and fungal
filaments. Another team of scientists publ