Can somebody explain what’s exactly special and unique about [The Hat](https://www.sciencealert.com/this-surprisingly-simple-shape-solves-a-longstanding-mathematical-problem) to me like I’m five?
I understand that the shape’s unique feature can be explained by knowing the difference between periodic and aperiodic tiling. I’ve read about it online but I think I still need further explanation in layman’s terms.
Thank you.
In: 18
For some shapes, you can tile them in a simple, repetative way.
For example, you can put a load of squares together, and no matter which bit of the tiling you look at, it always has the same pattern.
The same thing happens with triangles.
With ‘the hat’, whichever bit of tiling you look at, the pattern is always different.
It’s the first time this has been done using only a single shape of tile.
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