These new 3D shapes could help us combat herpes and fight climate change

Really!

Shapes

In the early 17th century, Galileo was demonstrating telescopes, and Johannes Kepler was experimenting with new 3D shapes. Over the subsequent 400 years, many advances have been made in astronomy. But no one has been able to match Kepler's work with 3D shapes — until now.

Stan Schein, a neuroscientist working at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his colleague, neuroscientist James Gayed, have discovered a new class of 3D shapes they've dubbed Goldberg Polyhedra. These 3D shapes look like spheres made out of a chain-link fence. And someday, they could help humans build cheap housing in disaster zones, better grasp global warming, and even combat viruses like herpes.

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Dana Liebelson is a reporter for Mother Jones. A graduate of George Washington University, she has worked for a variety of advocacy organizations in the District, including the Project on Government Oversight, International Center for Journalists, Rethink Media, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Change.org. She speaks Mandarin and German and plays violin in the D.C.-based Indie rock band Bellflur.