BBC News Online: UK

Party like it's 20/02/2002

Watch the calendar for palindromes

Expressed in strictly numerical terms today, 20-02-2002 is a palindrome. That the date can be written backwards and still be correct has caused quite a stir.

The Guardian, a serious broadsheet newspaper, even commissioned artist and Turner Prize nominee Tacita Dean to design a commemorative masthead. It reads: 20 02 2002.

"Some people think such figures have great significance," said BBC Radio 4's John Humphrys - before he interviewed a palindrome junkie who immediately stated there was "no significance" in the date.

That Mark Saltveit - editor of The Palindromist Magazine - was less than impressed by 20 02 2002's palindromic status is perhaps explained by his being American.

To the citizens of the United States, accustomed to writing the month before the day, today is the rather more asymmetric 02 20 2002. Close, but no smoke-it-both-ways cigar.

Madam, I'm Adam

Those nations and religions which don't share our Gregorian calendar may be even less impressed by this particular Wednesday.

Even Tacita Dean doubts the "earth-shattering cosmic significance" of the date. She says it's the "beauty of the palindrome" which interested her and not "the date being significant in any weird sort of way".

While it would take a dedicated numerologist to read meaning into today's date, humans undoubtedly exhibit a deeply-rooted affection for symmetry in all things.

Many of us are delighted by the clever wordplay of literary palindromes. Mr Saltveit offers a suitable one for those in the doghouse with the missus: "Lapses? Order red roses, pal."

Click here to send your palindromes

But our eye for symmetry goes deep into the subconscious. We even look for symmetry in the faces and bodies of prospective partners, says psychologist Anthony Little.

"One half of the body should mirror the other. Any deviation from symmetry denotes a blip in genetic quality."

In this sense, symmetry is a handy visual health check when picking an optimum mate.

A Canadian study of brothers from 1999 found that younger siblings tend to be more symmetrical in appearance. They also tended to have more sexual partners, more children and experience more orgasms.

The poor old asymmetrical big brothers were remarkable only for their higher incidence of mental problems.

The hunt for symmetry doesn't only occupy humans. Asymmetry in other animals gives off warning signals to mates.

Aha!

Swallows living around the infamous Chernobyl nuclear plant are particularly asymmetric - thanks to genetic mutations blamed on radiation exposure.

Humans appear to find a comforting sense of order in the symmetrical, wherever they spot it in our chaotic world.

A study where abstract paintings were manipulated to accentuate their symmetrical qualities revealed that the doctored canvases were more popular than the originals.

If 20 02 2002 has awoken your primordial appetite for symmetry, you'll have quite a wait for the next one 21 12 2112.

Consider yourself blessed. The last palindromic day (if you talk to purists, who are even a bit iffy about today - since you have to write February with a zero, "02" - to make it work) was back on 29 November 1192.

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