Gomboc

Gomboc

As a kid i had 8 star tortoise then 2 died. Out of the 6, 2 lay eggs :P Me and my brother incubated it! Haha. Ask me how. We didn't sat on it but we wrapped them up in towels and shone lamps on them for days. We also tried putting it at the back of the fridge, under the hot sun with a magnifying glass and we did whatever we could think of as kids but obviously it didn't hatch. It broke curious little Yane heart...

The rest of the 6 i gave it away to the AVA because it's illegal to own it in Singapore. Who knows what they did to my star tortoise. Maybe it is deported out of the country or in Singapore zoo but they better not make turtle soup with it because it's a endangered species.

Well me and my brother always wondered how my tortoise managed to flipped itself back whenever it is balancing on its shell. I actually concluded they rocked themselves back and fourth to self right themselves. Haha. And i remembered someone telling me he used to turn his turtle and laugh at it trying to get itself back on its feet. Boys are just boys.. :P

Thanks to 2 Hungarian scientists now we know how tortoise/beetle or any shell like creature managed to self right themselves after falling over. It is a shape called Gomboc. They actually have on stable and one unstable point of equilibrium. How interesting..

I guess my own theory of rocking themselves back and forth is wrong :P