Remember the toy Comeback Kid? Weeble? Or maybe you called it roly-poly toy? You know, that little guy who stood back up on his round bottom every time, no matter how you pushed it. That was because he had a weighted sphere (his bottom was much heavier and from a different material, therefore, he was inhomogeneous) and a very low center of mass. He actually had a stable point of equilibrium.
In 1995, world-famous Russian mathematician Vladimir Igorevich Arnold proposed that a class of convex, homogeneous bodies, which, when resting on a flat surface have only one stable and only one unstable point of equilibrium, must exist. (In unstable equilibrium, the body will fall out of equilibrium no matter how you push it). A few years later in 2006, his idea was proven by Hungarian scientists, Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, by constructing a physical example. Meet Gömböc.
About the source
Atlas Obscura aims 'to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share'. You can contribute to their collection on their website.
1987
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
This site has the remains of monuments such as the Roman city of Aquincum and the Gothic castle of Buda, which have had a considerable influence on the architecture of various periods. It is one of the world’s outstanding urban landscapes and illustrate…
