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A secret best left unknown
(startrek.website)
GPT4, Why do balls have a stitch line?:
Chatgpt: Balls typically have a stitch line or a seam due to the way they are manufactured. Here's a brief explanation for a couple of common types of balls:
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Baseballs: A baseball is made of a rubber or cork center, wrapped in yarn, and covered with two pieces of white leather stitched together. The stitching is not just for aesthetic purposes. It also affects the ball's aerodynamics. The raised seams can cause the ball to move in various ways depending on how it's thrown.
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Basketballs: Traditional basketballs have eight panels stitched together. The lines where these panels meet are the "stitch lines." They offer grip to players and give the ball its characteristic look.
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Soccer balls (footballs in many parts of the world): Traditional soccer balls were made of 32 panels: 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. These panels were stitched together to form the ball, creating the stitch lines. This design makes the ball roughly spherical and ensures that it bounces and rolls uniformly. Modern soccer balls have varying designs but still require seams to join the panels.
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Tennis balls: The felt covering of a tennis ball is made up of two pieces, which are stitched together. This creates the familiar "figure-8" stitch pattern on the ball.
In many cases, the stitch line or seam is a byproduct of the manufacturing process, as multiple pieces of material are joined together to create a spherical shape. In some sports, like baseball, the seam also plays a functional role in the game.
Chatgpt is a sweet summer child confirmed.. After some mild redirecting:
Chatgpt: Ah, I see what you're getting at. The "stitch line" on human testicles, commonly referred to as the "scrotal raphe," is a line or ridge that runs from the anus, up the middle of the scrotum, and ends at the base of the penis.
It's a result of human embryonic development. During the early stages of development in the womb, male and female embryos have a similar undifferentiated structure, which includes a genital swelling and a groove called the urogenital groove. In males, under the influence of testosterone, this groove closes to form the scrotum and the penis. The scrotal raphe is essentially the remnant or "scar" of where the two halves fused together.