Answer to the mystery of life is four
Scientists have found a simple mathematical relationship that connects the whole of nature, from the tiniest cell to the vast forests of the Amazon.
The connections are all based on the three dimensions of the physical world - length, depth and width - plus one, making the number 4.
"Four is the magic number of life," says Dr Geoffrey West of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, a keynote speaker at the NZ Institute of Physics annual conference last week.
By SIMON COLLINS, science reporter
Read the whole mystery of life
