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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » No two snowflakes are alike? How can we know that? No two thumbprints are alike? I guess so. What about eyeprints?

No two snowflakes are alike? How can we know that? No two thumbprints are alike? I guess so. What about eyeprints?

In spy movies they have an important someone look into a beam and the eyeprint recognition opens the door. Is that true? No two eyeprints are alike? Facial recognition prints are a differennt story or there absolutely no two faces in the world with the same configuration orientation dimensions?

Posted - May 22, 2019

Responses


  • 6023
    It is not that "no two are alike" ... but the odds of witnessing such a thing is so large, that it is the same as true.
    It's like saying you'll never be hit by lightning.  Sure, people are hit by lightning every year, but the odds of it happening to any specific person is so low as to be "never happen".

    Yes - there are identical fingerprints.  Until one of them gets a papercut (for instance).
    I don't know about retina "prints".

    And I guess it would be possible for two people to have the same "facial recognition" features.
    Especially with modern facial reconstruction surgery.
      May 22, 2019 7:12 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Excellent point Walt. It never even occurred to me...plastic surgery definitely changes the configuration of a face. More complications. Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful reply m'dear! :)
      May 22, 2019 12:37 PM MDT
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  • 6023
    Some facial recognition software uses the underlying bone structure ... but break a nose, and *poof* it no longer recognizes you (until it's updated).
      May 22, 2019 12:56 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    Interesting:

    The exact form each snow crystal takes depends heavily on tiny changes in temperature and humidity it encounters as it falls, resulting in extraordinary diversity.

    "It is probably safe to say that the possible number of snow crystal shapes exceeds the estimated number of atoms in the known universe," Nelson said.

    Still, while "no two snowflakes are alike" might hold true for larger snowflakes, Nelson figures it might ring false for smaller crystals that sometimes fall before they have a chance to fully develop.

    "How likely is it that two snowflakes are alike? Very likely if we define alike to mean that we would have trouble distinguishing them under a microscope and if we include the crystals that hardly develop beyond the prism stage—that is, the smallest snow crystals," Nelson said.

    "Good luck finding them though," he added. "Even if there were only a million crystals and you could compare each possible pair once per second—that is, very fast—then to compare them all would take you about a hundred thousand years."

    https://www.nbcnews.com/id/16759121/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/two-snowflakes-may-actually-be-alike/#.XOWbzYhKiUk
      May 22, 2019 1:01 PM MDT
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  • 7280
      May 22, 2019 1:04 PM MDT
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