snails.

[Shannow]

Better half bought our 2 year old a bunch of sea shells for $1 at a local discount shop. She loves mucking around with them.

Was playing sorting tonight, and realised that every single one of the snail shells turns the same way.

freaky.

(wonder if that's the reason why the wrong handed thalidomide upset the apple cart so badly).

 

[MarkC]

Do they spiral clockwise or counter-clockwise?

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkC:
Do they spiral clockwise or counter-clockwise?

---

That would depend on which side you're looking at. Left vs. right

 

[tweeker43]

well, in australia they turn anticlockwise, while in the northern hemisphere they turn clockwise!

 

[moribundman]

Hmm, I have seen right-handed and left-handed spiral shells.

 

[MarkC]

I was just wondering, and I guess looking at them from the top.
Lots of things in nature have spirals, and I wonder if the pattern predominates in one direction or another.

 

[moribundman]

A quick google search regarding "coriolis force, spiral" yielded this:

quote:

---

Apparently, the Coriolis forces play the most significant role also at formation of xylem spiral vessel structures. This finding is confirmed by the existence of the right and the left spirals in various kinds of plants, etc. Certainly, many problems remain far from clear and are pending for the corresponding explanations. However, it is evident that the existence of flows along chemical gradient with similar direction for all types of Protozoa and Earth rotation could contribute to selection of the corresponding asymmetric biostructures at one of the juvenile Earth hemispheres.

---

I checked my pine cones. On all five, the scales spiral also upward and counterclockwise.

 

[MarkC]

So I wonder if spiral galaxies spiral counterclockwise too?

 

[427Z06]

As Einstein would remind us, it's all relative.

 

[Shannow]

moribundman,
Yep, same spiral as my shells and the snails in my garden.

I was thinking coliolis as well.

But that should mean they spiral differently in different hemispheres.

 

[moribundman]

But what if the snails in your yard are not natives but immigrants or tourists from Upabove?

 

[tweeker43]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TallPaul:

quote:

---

Originally posted by tweeker43:
well, in australia they turn anticlockwise, while in the northern hemisphere they turn clockwise!

---

Same situation with the spiral in your hair at the upper back of your head.

---

'twer it so.

so very bald...

 

[moribundman]

Looking at a handful of spiral shells, it seems that most of them are "left-handed." Seen from above, they spiral upward counterclockwise.

 

[TallPaul]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tweeker43:
well, in australia they turn anticlockwise, while in the northern hemisphere they turn clockwise!

---

Same situation with the spiral in your hair at the upper back of your head.

 

[moribundman]

Tweeker, did the hair fall out in a spiral shape?

 

[Shannow]

quote:

---

Originally posted by moribundman:
But what if the snails in your yard are not natives but immigrants or tourists from Upabove?

---

...ahhhh, and thus the black helicopters

(actually they were grey, and overpressured a house in town Monday night, damaging their roof, and covering a 7 year old in broken glass)

 

[moribundman]

Of course, black helicopters are really grey. Grey blends much better in the dark than black, which stands out more. Back in my cat burglar days, I used to wear a dark grey jumpsuit and...oops, am I still typing?