Nature is filled with patterns or recurring similarities in shape, characteristics, or other features. Some patterns are geometric and resemble spirals, symmetries, waves, or cracks, while others are cyclical progressions that repeat over and over again such as weather, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. Identifying patterns in nature has been instrumental for scientists in predicting events and uncovering how different geographic features and life arose. However, some occurrences in nature seem to follow mysterious patterns that cannot be fully understood.
An example of this is the mysterious similarity in the shape of some bodies of water and the shape of embryos. Illustrated below is what developing embryos look like. Interestingly, species that evolved long before humans have similar embryonic shapes to human embryos; however, what’s even more interesting is that the same shape can be seen in geographic features like bodies of water.
Source: Dana Krempels
When familiar with the shapes of embryos, consider the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea; the distribution of water in each sea resembles an extremely similar shape to a developing embryo. Furthermore, a larger sea, the Mediterranean, not only has a similar structure to the Caspian and Black Seas, but it also looks like an embryo. Even smaller bodies of water such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, have the familiar embryonic shape. Other bodies of water, such as the Red Sea and several of the Great Lakes appear like the embryos of fish.
Source: Ajay Menon
Source: Wikipedia Contributors
Source: Bryce T. Tripp
Source: Free World Maps
However, what’s even more ridiculously strange is that Pangea looks like a human embryo. Pangea is the name of the supercontinent that existed before it broke up into the continents we know today. Scientists suggest that the earth started out as one colossal landmass that was surrounded by water, and through continental drift and the movement of tectonic plates, the land masses separated. Mysteriously, the way the earth started (Pangea) is extremely similar to the way life starts (embryos).
Source: Tia Ghose and Laura Geggel
The similarity in shape of human embryos, bodies of water and Pangea is a strange “coincidence” because it appears that these geographic features did not develop randomly, but rather are structured and follow a distinct pattern. It’s as if water flows in a certain way to create a certain shape, regardless of if it’s inside organisms or outside. It almost looks like the formation of something follows a code or can be predicted mathematically based on its geometric shape.
This raises questions such as is it possible to determine if life exists based on the shape of its continent creation or bodies of water? It’s strange because the bodies of water and Pangea are of a similar shape but can be very different sizes. But why do they look so similar? What if the Earth was engineered with different patterns that landforms and life all follow? Was the Earth engineered by some intelligence? IS there a higher intelligence?
There is not sufficient evidence to suggest that the Earth is “engineered,” but patterns keep showing up. In the 21st century there is a rising branch of science and mathematics that studies fractal geometry.
A fractal is a pattern, where the geometry or shape displays self-similarity. This means that the more you zoom in on that shape, the smaller and smaller the pattern gets, but it still keeps its shape and looks like the original pattern. Examples of fractals in nature are the branching of trees, blood vessels, jagged mountains, and shorelines.
Below is a picture of basic geometric fractals that include 2D shapes. In the second example with the triangle, notice how with each consecutive phase, smaller and smaller triangles are added mathematically to create an indefinite shape.
Source: Eric W. Weisstein
An example of this on a larger scale is in mountains. As can be seen in the image below, the smaller rock formations have the same shape and distribution as the larger ones.
Source: Yale Institute
On an extremely fine scale, like in embryos, blood vessels also grow in fractal patterns; if you take a square centimeter of blood vessels, the shape will look the same as if you take a square millimeter or nanometer of blood vessels.
Source: Robert Elkington
River deltas also follow this fractal pattern, “coincidently” implying that water flows in a certain way, branching into smaller and smaller streaks.
Source: World Atlas
Fractals can be coded with somewhat simple equations. The key feature is that when plugging in an input into the equation, the output or “answer” becomes the new input and so the “answer” is plugged into the equation indefinitely — the blood vessels or trees keep branching, and the jaggedness of the shoreline gets more extreme with smaller units of measure.
This is relevant to embryos and geographic features because these simple “equations” can build really complex organisms and landforms. Furthermore, the similarity between the shape of landforms and embryo development ultimately implies the question: what if everything with structure in nature follows an equation? It certainly appears plausible as shorelines, blood vessels, and mountains all follow some kind of fractal pattern.
The significance of the presence of the fractal patterns and similarity in the shape of bodies of water as well as human embryos is that it questions the origins of life: was the Earth engineered; and is there a higher intelligence?
It is certainly true that not all landmasses and bodies of water so nearly resemble the shape of human embryos. In fact, the connection can be considered far-fetched because it is possible to randomly connect two entities with similar shapes; however, this connection between geographic features and embryos makes sense because it describes a pattern in nature, involves formation (of organisms or geographic features), and involves similar chemical compounds (such as hydrogen and oxygen in water in both embryos and Seas).
More analysis and research is needed to establish a more concrete pattern. Particularly, more fractal equations can be coded to represent landforms; and there could be an in-depth analysis of the movement patterns of molecules. Patterns in DNA and the structure of organisms should be mapped out with more fractal shapes. Further, more information needs to be uncovered about the legitimacy of fractals and the origins of life.
I love how your brain is always looking for connections between different topics. What a wonderful thing to think about- patterns connecting the biological and geological sciences. You can add villi and microvilli to your list of patterns.