715.00 Locked Kiss

715.01 As we increase the frequency of triangular-module subdivisions of a tensegrity geodesic sphere, we thus also increase the number of compression struts, which get progressively halved in length, while their volumes and weights shrink eightfold. At the same time, the arc altitude between the smaller arcs and chords of the sphere decreases, while the compression members get closer and closer to the adjacent compression members they cross. Finally, we reach the condition where the space between the struts is the same dimension as the girth radius of the struts. At this point, we can let them kiss-touch; i.e., with the ends of two converging struts contacting the top middle of the strut running diagonally to those two struts and immediately below their ends. We may then lock the three kissing members tensionally together in their kiss, but when we do so, we must remember that they were not pushing one another when they “kissed” and we locked them in that equilibrious, “most comfortable” position of contact coincidence. Tensegrity spheres are not fastened in shear, even though their locked kiss gives a superficially “solid” continuity appearance that is only subvisibly discontinuous at the atomic level.