However, a hierarchical fractal structure can be built upon a hexagonal honeycomb by successively replacing each vertex of three edges with another, smaller hexagon (see the image below). Vaziri and ...

His "conjecture" — and that's what it was, a mathematical guess — proposed that a structure built from hexagons is probably a wee bit more compact than a structure built from squares or triangles.

Sweet structure For thousands of years, thinkers have marvelled at the feat of engineering that is the honeycomb. Each waxy cell is a perfect hexagon, its six wafer-thin sides providing not only ...