EXCERPT: . . . It kind of looks like a prism, but while one end of the prism has five edges, the other actually has six: a geometric quirk made possible by a Y-shaped split dividing one of the prism's edges into two, creating a mini-triangle. This bizarre 'twisted prism' may sound like something M.C. Escher might have experimented with, but according to the team, the novel shape has never been previously described in scientific literature.
"To our surprise, the additional shape didn't even have a name in math!" Buceta says. "One does not normally have the opportunity to name a new shape." Ultimately, the researchers termed their new discovery the 'scutoid', in homage to the scutellum – a posterior portion of the thorax in some insects, which resembles the same mini-triangle shape....
Jul 30, 2018 04:47 PM
![[Image: 737-shape-cell-skin-scutoid-1.jpg]](https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2018-07/737-shape-cell-skin-scutoid-1.jpg)