h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm wondering whether the lining of your small intestine could be considered to be a fractal. Or the surface area of your brain, or in fact a lot of bodily organs whose surface area is increased by folding. Food for thought (and that'd be a great pun if I'd mentioned more of the gastrointestinal tract here).

Repeated, iterative folding creates classic fractal shapes. For a simple description of why this is so, try reading J.Gleik's very accessible book "Chaos". Eg, the lungs: Essentially nature needs a way of packing as much exposure to air molecules to as much lung tissue as possible, folded structures are ideal.... in the same way that a sponge is a fractal shape perfect for sifting water.

Exactly my point

One of my biology professors said that the snmall intestine is like a fractal - folds within folds within folds. So yes.

A physics experiment involving light refraction involved scattering a little yellow powder on the surface of water. When viewed under a travelling microscope, it took on a fractal shape.