Most complex crop circle ever discovered in British fields

The most complex, "mind-boggling" crop circle ever to be seen in Britain has been discovered in a barley field in Wiltshire.

The circle is a coded representation of pi to the 10th significant figure

The formation, measuring 150ft in diameter, is apparently a coded image representing the first 10 digits, 3.141592654, of pi.

Michael Reed, an astrophysicist, said: "The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point.

"The code is based on 10 angular segments with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.

"Starting at the centre and counting the number of one-tenth segments in each section contained by the change in radius clearly shows the values of the first 10 digits in the value of pi."

Lucy Pringle, a researcher of crop formations, said: "This is an astounding development - it is a seminal event."

Mathematics codes and geometric patterns have long been an important factor in crop circle formations. One of the best known formations showed the image of a highly complex set of shapes known as The Julia Set, 12 years ago.

科學家發現英國麥田圈呈現圓周率數字

麥田圈是世上一大謎團，有人認為它是外星人留下的記號，有人認為它只是貪玩的農民弄出的巨型塗鴉，不過，若美國天文學家邁克-里德所言非虛，早前在英國出現的一個麥田圈無論是由誰人所畫，它都是一幅複雜得匪夷所思的傑作：它以圖形呈現了圓周率π的頭十個數字。

據香港《大公報》報道，該個麥田圈本月較早前在英國華亞特郡一個鐵器時代的山上城堡巴伯里堡(Barbury Castle)出現，起初發燒友和專家都覺得這個四十五米寬的圖案深不可測，但曾在密蘇里州立大學任教的天體物理學家里德日前宣布破解了它的意思。他對該麥田圈的照片作出分析後發覺它是圓周率π頭十個數字的圖案呈現。

圓心外面，一個個的圓形大多只劃到一截曲線，直徑便中途拉長，而若把整個圈平分為十分，那些曲線所占的“十分之一”的數量可以象征3.141592654的十個數字；接近圓心的圓點相當于小數點。這圖案是一個“分形(fractal)幾何圖案”。

科學家認為這是英國有史以來最複雜的麥田圈。著名麥田圈專家露西-普林格爾指里德的發現驚人而具突破性。