Global "spiky-prickly" indications of a "pattern that connects"

Reimagining Coronavirus in 3D as a Metaphor of Global Society in Distress (Part #9)

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Software enabling recognition of such pattern noted the role of polyhedra as highlighted above (Polyhedral Pattern Language: software facilitation of emergence, representation and transformation of psycho-social organization, 2008).

The following examples suggest that nature has been constrained in its efforts to ensure the appropriate distribution of global protection of defensive/offensive devices on a sphere -- notably in the case of spheroidal virions. Many of those are specifically recognized as icosahedral viruses -- the capsid having 20 triangular faces, with regularly arranged units called  capsomeres, two to five or more along each side; with the nucleic acid densely coiled within. 

Ironically it might be said, in the case of the first example, that radiolaria "know" all about global configurations. As in that example, the others are variously constrained in geometrical terms in their deployment of "spiky structures", especially as a configuration for defensive purposes. The constraint in human social terms is evident in the constraints of "circling the wagons" (Circling the wagons, The Economist, 25 May 2013).

Radiozoa: Also called radiolaria, are protozoa of diameter 0.1–0.2 mm that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm. Radiolarians have many needle-like pseudopods supported by bundles of microtubules, which aid in the radiolarian's buoyancy. Some radiolarians are known for their resemblance to regular polyhedra, such as the icosahedron-shaped Circogonia icosahedra pictured.

Radiolaria (inversion of black and white coloration)
Circogonia icosahedra	Haeckeliana porcellana	Circostephanus coronarius
Adapted from Wikipedia

Forms such as those above derive from the remarkable work of Ernst Haeckel (Kunstformen der Natur, 1904) with its emphasis on symmetry and levels of organization

Echinoidea: Sea urchins, are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones. Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across. Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with their tube feet, and sometimes pushing themselves with their spines. Like other echinoderms, urchins have fivefold symmetry as adults.

Examples of sea urchins
Phyllacanthus imperialis	Echinus melo	Paracentrotus lividus
Frédéric Ducarme / CC BY-SA	Marco Busdraghi / CC BY	Frédéric Ducarme / CC BY-SA

Of potential relevance to isomorphism in animals is the study by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (On Growth and Form, 1917)

Barrel cacti: These are various members of the two genera Echinocactus and Ferocactus of the cactus family, Cactaceae

Examples of barrel cacti
Echinocactus grusonii	Ferocactus echidne	Echinocactus parryi
André Karwath aka Aka / CC BY-SA	www.biolib.de / CC BY-SA	Michael Wolf / CC BY-SA

Of potential relevance to isomorphism in plants is the focus of  Keith Critchlow (The Hidden Geometry of Flowers: living rhythms, form and number, 2011). An equivalent study would be of value with respect to the spiny forms like those depicted above. (Gallery of Polyhedral Flower Arrangements: engendering sustainable psycho-social systems through metaphor, 2014)

Spiky seed pods (burs): Burs are seeds or dry fruit that have hooks or teeth. These catch on the fur of passing animals or the clothing of people. The hooks or teeth generally cause irritation, and some species commonly cause gross injury to animals, or expensive damage to clothing or to vehicle tires.

Examples of spiky fruits
Rambutan (unripened)	Spiked melon	Durian
Kinglaw / Public domain	Anagoria / CC BY	مانفی / CC BY-SA

Burs serve the plants that bear them in two main ways. Burs tend to repel some herbivores, much as other spines and prickles do. Plants with burs rely largely on living agents to disperse their seeds; their burs are mechanisms of seed dispersal by epizoochory (dispersal by attaching to the outside of animals). Most epizoochorous burs attach to hair on the body or legs of the host animal,

Examples of spiky seed pods
Geum bur	Bur of Arctium (Burdock)	Xanthium bur	Medicago bur
Zephyris / CC BY-SA	Prosthetic Head / CC BY-SA	Enrico Blasutto / CC BY-SA

Weapon designs: Examples of relevance to this inquiry include the contact naval mines of the Hertz horn variety (Sam LaGrone, A Terrible Thing That Waits Under the Ocean, Popular Science, 19 May 2014; John M. MacFarlane, Naval Anti-ship Mines, Nauticapedia, 2013). Of curiously similar form is the earlier club-like Morning star -- a spiked mace, whether with a rigid handle or a chain (known in German as Morgenstern). Given the origins of the latter, it is somewhat ironic to note the existence of the Morningstar global investment research company.

The Koon shot of Operation Castle was an early test of a thermonuclear device on (7 April 1954). The two-stage device was known as "Morgenstern", and had a highly innovative secondary stage. As indicated by Wikipedia, the name "Morgenstern" was chosen because of the shape of that secondary stage. It consisted of a central sphere from which spikes were radiating, resembling a morning star / mace. The spikes may have been an idea from Teller and colleagues to use implosive jets to compress the thermonuclear core. It would be well over two decades before weapons were designed that utilized a secondary concept similar to that first tested in the Koon shot.

It can be readily understood that efforts to imagine the design of the ultimate space weapon -- a "death star" -- would be faced with similar constraints. Of interest is the name attributed by Israel to its Spike Missile (Charlie Gao, Put a Spike in It: how Germany plans to kill enemy tanks in a war, The National Interest, 9 March 2019)

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