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Tensegrity

|< < Prev #3190 (January 5, 2026)

Title text: Some people argue that the tension and compression in the human skeleton is technically tensegrity, but it's missing the defining characteristic: making people say 'wtf, how is that thing floating?' when they see it.

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Explanation

Tensegrity structures are structures that are suspended using a combination of rigid and compressional components, usually a series of rods and strings that give the illusion of a floating object held up by the strings. Buckminster Fuller coined the term tensegrity from the words "tensional integrity" (see here), and Steve Mould describes the mechanism in this video.

Randall makes the claim that there are animals that exist which use tensegrity in their anatomy, naming the (fictional) "Buckminster's Giraffe" as an example. The panel shows each leg of the giraffe using a structure similar to that of a tensegrity table. Some people consider giraffe to be an example of a body form that appears to defy their expectations of physical laws because of their unusually long legs and neck as compared to the body.

The title text brings up the argument that humans themselves use tensegrity in our anatomy. Randall, however, deems that this doesn't count due to lacking the "defining characteristic" of a tensegrity structure - namely, that its stiff bits appear to be 'floating' by being suspending on a bunch of flexible bits, causing an observer to say "wtf", which is short for "what the fuck". Humans, thanks to our skin and other various layers, outwardly look like a single solid structure, unlike the giraffe in the comic.

Transcript

[Cueball stands at the left of the panel, and at the right is a giraffe-like animal whose legs appear to be made of a tensegrity structure, with disconnected segments held together by strings]

[Caption below the panel:]

While tensegrity is rare in the animal kingdom, a few species, such as Buckminster's Giraffe, are known to employ it.

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