ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Waterman polyhedron

Imagine you have a bunch of toy blocks that are shaped like different geometric shapes, like triangles and squares. Now, imagine you can connect these blocks together so that they make a 3D shape, like a cube or a pyramid.

A Waterman polyhedron is a type of 3D shape made up of lots of these blocks, except they're not regular blocks - they're shaped like little cups or cones. These shapes are called "icosahedra", and there are 20 of them that fit together to create a Waterman polyhedron.

When you put these icosahedra together, they make a really cool looking 3D shape that is made up of many triangles and hexagons. It's called a Waterman polyhedron because it was named after Steve Waterman, who came up with the idea for this shape in the 1990s.

Scientists and mathematicians like to use Waterman polyhedrons to study different things, like how viruses are shaped or how molecules interact. They're also really cool to look at and play with!