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594 points robinhouston | 4 comments | 25 Jun 25 20:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source

1. pizzathyme ◴[25 Jun 25 21:25 UTC] No.44381975[source]▶

Couldn't you achieve this same result with a ball that has one weighted flat side?

And then if it needs to be more polygonal, just reduce the vertices?

replies(2): >>44381995 #>>44381996 #

2. Etheryte ◴[25 Jun 25 21:29 UTC] No.44381995[source]▶

>>44381975 (TP) #

A ball that has one flat side can land on two sides: the round side and the flat side. You can easily verify this by cutting an apple in half and putting one half flat side down and the other flat side up.

replies(1): >>44385356 #

3. zuminator ◴[25 Jun 25 21:30 UTC] No.44381996[source]▶

>>44381975 (TP) #

The article acknowledges that roly-poly toys have always worked, but in this case they were looking for polyhedra with entirely flat surfaces.

4. Etheryte ◴[26 Jun 25 08:25 UTC] No.44385356[source]▶

>>44381995 #

Note: the GP comment didn't include the word "weighted" when I made my comment, their edit makes this comment look like nonsense.

↑

A new pyramid-like shape always lands the same side up