There’s a great article in Physics World on crop circles. Not a discussion about man-made / weather-made / UFO-made – any sensible interpretation would be man-made – but just HOW do you make such intricate and vast patterns so quickly and leave almost no traces behind. Some of the patterns that crop-up (sorry) in crop fields can be fractals, reproduced to an astonishing level of detail.
There’s some evidence that the crop-circle makers are really very scientifically based and have moved beyond the rope, peg and stomping board and are armed with magnetrons and other secret techniques by which they carry out their art.
Read the article and see what you think. I love the bit about a couple of the makers being motivated to produce ever more detailed patterns in an attempt to ridicule the scientists who clung to a natural (e.g. whirlwind) view of their formation.
And why are there so few crop circles in NZ? Are we working our students too hard that they don’t have time to get involved in this stuff?