Geometry on the Beach

Discover the mystery at Santa Monica beach involving mathematically-minded vandals and an elaborate prank with a giant crane.

Bycjohnson
Google NewsGoogle News Preferred Source

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

I spotted this last week on Santa Monica beach:

I've no idea what's going on either, but I thought it was rather nice....

I like to imagine that it was an elaborate prank played by mathematically-minded vandals who got access to the giant crane late one night, and moved the containers around...... -cvj

More on Discover
An illustration of foraging sea cow relatives.
As an Ancient Cow Species Foraged For Seagrass, it Shaped Its Surroundings Around 21 Million Years Ago
Archaeologists visualizing Neanderthal features using a VR headset
From DNA to the Fossil Record, Here's Why We Have a Good Idea of What Neanderthals Looked Like
brown dwarf in space
Why Brown Dwarfs May Explain the Main Differences Between Stars and Planets
SNOLAB Acrylic Vessel
Ghost Particle Interaction Captured for the First Time Deep Underground
Hjortspring boat on display at the National Museum of Denmark
2,400-Year-Old War Vessel in Denmark Reveals Rare Fingerprint and New Origin Story
beaver couple sitting in a river
Humans May Be More Monogamous Than Meerkats, But Beavers Have Us Beat
Asteroid Bennu in space
Asteroid Bennu Samples Carry Mysterious Space Gum, Sugars, and a Ton of Stardust 
diver exploring Egyptian shipwreck grafiti
A 2,000-Year-Old Pleasure Barge Resurfaces in Cleopatra’s Harbor, Telling Us of Life in Roman Egypt
old sheep skull
4,000-Year-Old Sheep Bone Shows Evidence of the Plague, a First Case Beyond Humans
Stegodon florensis insularis fossil jaw bone with adult teeth
The Early Human Hobbit Vanished 61,000 Years Ago — And Climate Change May Be to Blame
massive ejection from a supermassive black hole
Supermassive Black Hole Flare Launched Wind and Debris Into Space at 37,000 Miles Per Second
Stories that matter, Discover Magazine
A More Refined Discover Magazine

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe