Frazz by Jef Mallett for May 12, 2024

Planetary paths are helices as the sun itself moves within the galaxy. And orbits are actually ellipses around the common center of gravity of the two (or more) gravitational entities that are interacting. So ELLIPTICAL helices.

Not all plants follow the Fibonacci sequence, though it does pop up in all kinds of unexpected places.

This all beyond me early on a Sunday morning. I guess I need to wake up some more.

Um . . . er . . . uh . . . WHAT?!?!?

Comparing organic forms to inorganic forms is classic apples to not just oranges—try crystals.

“in nature” only means “on earth” so what the planets do around the sun is irrelevant.

Do we know that the trajectory of galaxies, as they expand the universe, running away from each other, doesn’t conform to the golden ratio? Looking at universal expansion over time, the universe may be conforming to the golden ratio, if we just picture time as a spiral rather than a straight line. Maybe time is a growing spiral rather than strictly linear. Why not?

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Psalm 8

Once again, this strip is as dry as a stale, off brand saltine.

And yet again, the strip starts with a bad assumption by one of the kids. These comics are much better when that’s not done.

Planets are NOT “spheres” but oblate spheroids – there’s a “geometric difference” between the two.

Um…. Mr Mallett doesn’t seem to be aware that the orbital periods of some planets in our solar system are very close to powers of the golden ratio compared to earth’s period. For Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, the powers of the golden ratio are -3, -1, 5, and 7, respectively, accurate to a couple of decimal points.

First he needs to explain what he means by “follow a line to the same place.”

Maybe that they move in closed curves?

thanks so much for your additional information! it’s awful when the comics leave me thinking “huh?”

I wonder: is there a difference between “nature” on a planet with atmosphere, and “nature” out in the cosmos in a vacuum?