American Chemical Society. "12 Million Molecules Share 143 Basic Shapes, Researchers Find." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2008 / 06 / 080623093425.htm (accessed May 18, 2025).

From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Despite these differences, they all face ...

They found that more than half are built from just 143 basic shapes, or "frameworks." And the rest? Well, building those requires the other 836,565 cataloged frameworks.