Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Nostrildamus

I'm getting pretty sick of reading and hearing the clever observation that the insides of your intestines are actually external to your body because the human body is topologically equivalent to a doughnut (or a coffee cup). We know this by now. Just stop.

But it got me thinking: the fact that we have two nostrils as well as a mouth means that the human body is actually equivalent to a coffee cup with three handles. So there.

And don't get me started on the nasolacrimal ducts.

3 comments:

PTR said...

Oh, and since the fallopian tubes are continuous with the peritoneal cavity, that means we're up to six - but only for women. Men are just five.

Anonymous said...

so what genus, topographically speaking, are we?

PTR said...

Women are in the same homotopy class as a 6-torus (a coffee cup with 6 handles) and men are in the same homotopy class as a 5-torus.

If only my very nerdy friend would drop in - then we could really nerd up!