What is a tessellation?

Have you ever looked closely at a bathroom floor, a brick wall, or a beehive's honeycomb? They are made of shapes that fit perfectly together with zero gaps! This mathematical magic is called a tessellation! For decades, mathematicians wondered about an impossible puzzle: could just one single shape cover an endless floor without the pattern ever repeating itself? They called this mystery the "einstein" problem (which means "one stone" in German). Many experts thought it was completely impossible! But in 2022, a retired print technician in Yorkshire named David Smith made a mind-blowing discovery. He wasn't using giant supercomputers—he was just having fun cutting shapes out of cardboard on his kitchen table! David discovered a wild, 13-sided shape he called "the hat" that solves the puzzle perfectly. You can lay these little hats down forever, and the swirling pattern will never, ever repeat! Join Mira and Finn on Maths is Not Boring as they explore this incredible story of curiosity, cardboard shapes, and infinite patterns! You will never look at a tiled floor or a jigsaw puzzle the same way again!