Limitations of the Sphere Magnet Analogy for Tori

Although a tube made of sphere magnets is a great analogy for how nature could potentially self-assemble tube structures from individual small tori (see my previous posts, click my name), there is a visual problem with the analogy. Tori have outer surfaces, built of "barrier structure" like a 2D sheet of cross-linked little tori, and some of those direct their outflow outward from the convex surface.

Symbolism shows this surface as being prickly or fiery, and these little outflows create pressure that prevent other tori from getting too close. So the sphere magnet analogy isn't perfect, there should be some spacing between them, like on a string of pearls.