Thinking about it, humans have one less hole than I would've guessed, since the tube from our mouth to our anus sort of makes us a complicated straw.
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
659 points (99.3% liked)
Science Memes
15013 readers
1899 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
The human body is just a series of tubes.
The internet and I have that in common, I guess.
This is one of those "if you cut a hole in a net, it then has less holes than before" type arguments and I'm all here for it.
One of my friends is a Taurus as well. He's a car.
How many holes does he have?
At least 5. I'm unwilling to do a more thorough count, tho.
a torus is not homotopic to a straw though unless you take the straw and glue it at its ends. a straw is homotopic to a circle, a torus is homotopic to product of two circles, Baldur's gate is homotopic to a disk unless we are talking about the game storage medium which used to be a CD which is also homotopic to a circle
You are talking about a straw of zero wall thickness right? A real straw should be homo-whatever to a torus
Wouldn’t a straw be the product of a circle and a line?
How about a pair of jeans?
If anyone wants to see an entertaining mathematician talk about this exact topic for 30 minutes, here you go:
The average person is a straw.
This is a strawman argument.
Not really, they're some sort of tube, but they don't classify as straws
I'm a series of tubes!
You're the Internet?
A circle is a plane folded on itself so the answer is technically 0 holes. But first what is a hole?
a sphere is a plane folded in on itself, and spheres have no (one-dimensional) holes. but spheres do have a two-dimensional hole, which is basically a way of saying they’re hollow.
a circle is a line folded in on itself, and circles have one (one-dimensional) hole.
edit: the claim that circles and straws are homotopic is basically a fancy way of saying: “if you place a straw upright on a table and flatten it by smashing your hand down on it, you will end up with a circle.”
A goal?
Reminds me of the old "Are there more doors or wheels in the world?" question
Definitely wheels. All that machinery with wheels for the belts, all transportation, toys, ... I can't fathom there being as many doors.
Unless I'm wooshed :D
The answer is "yes".
Zero
What size does a hole need to be to be a hole
Twice as big as half a hole, obviously.
In theory, the smallest hole possible would be a ring of atoms combined into a molecule with an empty center
benzene got that nanopussy
That is one way of putting it, a bit crude though....
I imagine you with a monocle and a top hat
S¹ × [0, L]
~~I don't understand why a circle has one/a hole though.~~ I don't even know what a hole is.
Edit: Ok, circles might not have holes, they have interiors?
Make sure you're distinguishing between a circle and a disc.
What specifically constitutes a hole is somewhat ambiguous, but if you pull on the thread a bit, you'll probably agree that it's a topological quality and that homotopy groups and homology are good candidates. The most grounded way to approach the topic is with simplicial homology.