text: Crop circle depicting pi baffles scientists - Thaindian News
  June 18th, 2008 - 2:41 pm ICT by ANI Tweet
  Edinburgh, June 18 (ANI): A mysterious crop circle that emerged overnight in a barley field in England has baffled scientists, as it depicts the mathematical formula pi.
  Pi is the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter and has an infinite number of decimal places.
  According to a report in The Scotsman, an astrophysicist saw the image posted on the Internet and made the connection between the design of the crop circle and pi.
  While some think the 250ft-wide design is a message from another world, most put the baffling circles down to hoaxers who have gone to extraordinary lengths to display their mathematical prowess.
  The theory is that the circle, in a field near Barbury Castle in Wiltshire, south-west England, is a coded image of the first ten digits of pi; 3.141592654.
  It is apparently a coded image representing the first ten digits of pi. The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up, according to Michael Reed from North Carolina, a retired astrophysicist who saw a photograph of the crop circle.
  Mathematicians noticed that when they divided the circle into ten equal sections, the lines represented the digits in pi.
  The first line moves along three sections, followed by a dot for the decimal point.
  The lines then move outwards, firstly by one section, then by four sections, followed by one section and so on until the final line measures four sections, completing the first ten digits of pi.
  The fact the pi decimal point is included and there is rounding up to ten decimal places is mind-boggling, said Reed.
  You can do it on a computer, but you try putting that in a field in the middle of the night and achieving that degree of mathematical accuracy, she said.
  Her theory is that the designs are created by a spiralling electromagnetic force that hits the ground for a nanosecond.
  Its either a very educated person who has done it or a very educated alien, said Stewart Dobson, a local councilor. Its hard to believe somebody managed to work (the design) out so it shows pi so accurately, he added. (ANI)
  Tags: astrophysicist, barley field, circumference, crop circle, crop circles, decimal places, decimal point, digits in pi, digits of pi, infinite number, line moves, lucy pringle, mathematical accuracy, mathematical formula, mathematical prowess, michael reed, pi pi, scotsman, south west england, tenth digit