chaoticutopia | December 13, 2006Thanks to everyone who responded to the spirituality survey!
After seeing the all the responses to the spirituality survey, this week, I've come to one definite conclusion: While folks are eager to define categories, they don't like being fit into them. I think this is because categories tend to be exclusive; if you belong in one group, you don't belong in another. Even overlapping categories seem to supersede one another; in the case of the spirituality quiz, the all-inclusive philosophical categories, such as Unitarian Universalism or Secular Humanism seemed less important than more…
chaoticutopia | December 11, 2006
The other day, in response to a meme, I confessed to being a theist. I seem to have chosen a good time to do this, as many of my (non-theistic) fellow ScienceBloggers are discussing the matter. (Here and here are just a few examples.) I suppose I should explain. Since the holidays are approaching and, whether you are religious or not, there is a surplus of stress about, I'm going to try to keep it on the lighter side.
My brother, Tristan, ran across this quiz a few months ago, which attempts to match a person with the nearest spiritual beliefs. I'm usually rather skeptical about web-based…
chaoticutopia | December 8, 2006Be it winter or spring, I can find fractals growing all around me. Patterns which seem defiantly simple emerge with branching, crystalline beauty. This week's fractal is a Julia set, transformed with inverse circles, then painted with the colors of a winter's day:
...similar to a snowy scene in thicket of coyote willow:
Ice crystals growing on a branch of coyote willow (Salix exigua Nutt.) bush
...which somewhat resemble the flowers (catkins, in this case) of the plant in the spring:
All images by the author, fractals made by the author using ChaosPro.
chaoticutopia | December 7, 2006Ken over at Prospero's Books recently tagged me with this prying meme, asking me to list five things about myself that most people don't know. When I first considered the task, I realized there are many things about me that are relatively unknown... but I'm not quite willing to share them all in such a public venue. (Ah, call me a party-pooper if you wish.) There are a few things, however, that most of my readers may not know about me, that I am willing to share. They might even be shocking. Well, maybe not.
#1. I've only had 7 birthdays.
#2. I love baking bread. I enjoy cooking, in…
chaoticutopia | December 6, 2006After the skies cleared this week, I headed out to nearby Standley Lake to get a few winter photographs:
Standley Lake, with shores covered in snow and a snow-capped Longs Peak in the distance.
A few trees by the shore.
This is "south for the winter" for these Canadian Geese. There are a ton of geese around, as usual for this time of year, but they seem to be avoiding my camera.
I believe these were goose prints in the snow by the shore, but they could belong to another shore bird.
The beauty of a Colorado winter can even be seen at night, as rainbow-like halos appear around the full…
chaoticutopia | December 2, 2006My apologies for getting the fractal out a day late, and for keeping it simple. Just as soon as I started to get caught up with things, I caught a nasty little cold. So, here are the basics-I'll get back to more detailed posts as soon as my head clears. Thanks for your patience!
For this fractal, I chose to forego the typical Mandelbrot or Julia sets, and stick with a pure fractal coloring algorithm. I use "fractal Brownian motion" to color the fractals rather often, as the stochastic patterns lend themselves well to fuzzy patterns in nature, from fog and clouds to ripples in the Great Sand…
chaoticutopia | November 28, 2006Since I'm a little behind on, well... everything (housework, postings, academic deadlines, Christmas shopping, sleep, etc.,) I figured the least I could do was share another spiral delight. I ran across this mosaic of flickr images while browsing for my "Thanksgiving decorations":
If you click this incredible spiral collage, you'll be taken to the full, interactive version at coverpop.com. If you roll your mouse over the images there, the titles will appear along with a linked preview of the original. The image was designed by Jim Bumgardner, who is known for such oddities as creating the…
chaoticutopia | November 24, 2006Occasionally, I run across a fractal in nature that is so perfectly formed, that the repeating, scaling patterns are actually 3-D. In these cases, it is difficult to do the image justice by creating a similar fractal on a 2-D surface. I encountered this in today's fractal. The Julia set, colored with a formula named Azar por Amplitud (literally, chance by amplitude) by Marcelo Anelli, mimics nature to some degree:
But doesn't reach nearly the fractal depth of field found in this vegetable:
Broccoli Romanesco (Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis) florets (photo by Alfredo Matacotta)
(Ok, I…
chaoticutopia | November 23, 2006Here are a handful of photographs which not only fit the Thanksgiving theme, but also show fractal or spiral patterns, emerging in art and nature.
What better pattern to begin with than the turkey? The feathers of a turkey can display elegant fractal-like patterns:
This Tom seems to know his classy spirals will catch the ladies' eyes:
Other spiraling forms look similar, such as this fungus:
But you don't really need to go traipsing through the woods to look for spirals. You might find one, right on the dinner table, like inside this wine glass:
Finally, in Dallas, Texas, in a square,…
chaoticutopia | November 22, 2006What makes the perfect Thanksgiving turkey gravy? Depending on your preference, it might be the smooth texture, the rich flavor, or the glossy sheen. No matter what the end result, the magic of gravy lies in the science of starch.
So, what is a starch, exactly? A starch is a complex carbohydrate; in other words, a fancy chain of sugars. Simple sugars form neat little rings that dissolve readily in water, making a uniform solution. Starches, on the other hand, have bonds arranged differently, and form amorphous semi-crystalline layers. This arrangement allows the starch to absorb water, rather…
chaoticutopia | November 22, 2006I had so many creative guesses for the complexity puzzle posted the other day, that I decided to pull them altogether into one mosaic:
So... who was right?
I tried to include every answer, adding a few of my own "guesses" as well, to show more similar forms. Thanks to everyone who added their input. Both Chris and kimball had the correct answer, kimball being slightly more specific. The pattern (shown second from the upper left in the mosaic) was taken from a baculite fossil, showing the suture lines, and a fraction of shell. The baculites were a straight-shelled cousin to the ammonites,…
chaoticutopia | November 21, 2006Another spiral; this time, one that can be found inside the human body:
An isolated and dissected cochlea.
The cochlea is the organ inside your inner ear that ultimately transforms the vibrations of sound into nerve signals, which are sent to the brain and thus "heard". Essentially, it is a spiral-shaped, hollow bone, filled with fluid and lined with hairs. The coiled shape of your cochlea allows you to hear a wider range of frequencies than animals with a straight cochlea.
Different frequency waves peak at different positions along the tube. Hair cells sitting on the basilar membrane sense…
chaoticutopia | November 20, 2006Casey Luskin, please come out of your box, or stop trying to stick your opinions through the keyhole without taking a look. Luskin, a mouthpiece for the Discovery Institute, recently tried to attack Carl Zimmer's National Geographic article on complexity. (Zimmer's article is, as usual, an incredibly fascinating read, accompanied by a beautiful gallery of images that I was tempted to "borrow" for a fractal.) Sufficed to say, Luskin failed miserably in attacking Zimmer's work, resorting to using the Ford Pinto as an example. (I won't bother to try to explain how; my fellow SciBlings have done…
chaoticutopia | November 17, 2006What's so special about a spiral? Why does it catch our eye, inspiring our art and architecture? Why is it even there? This week, I reviewed a program about the emergence of order, showing how organized patterns appear in nature and society, without the guidance of a leader. Spiral forms are an excellent example for this subject... did some creator or guide put these elegant forms in nature? Or do they appear almost by accident, a result of simple, repeated processes? Sounds familiar. Before comparing today's fractal with an image from nature, compare these two definitions:
A self-similar…
chaoticutopia | November 16, 2006
With my love for fractals, added to my experiences with a gigantic wasp/ladybug colony springing to order in front of my home, the subject of emergent behavior should feel quite natural to me. Indeed, as I listened to Monday night's program on NPR on emergence, I was not disappointed. Listening to the program, a common thread began to emerge, drawing together my subjects of interest... from the social systems of insects, the complexity of the brain and human consciousness, to google and the forces behind creation.
The program begins with firefly synchronization, but soon turns to the social…
chaoticutopia | November 13, 2006Tonight, Colorado Public Radio is hosting a program about emergence:
What happens when there is no leader? Starlings, bees, and ants manage just fine. In fact, they form staggeringly complicated societies, all without a Toscanini to conduct them into harmony. How? That's our question this hour. We gaze down at the bottom-up logic of cities, Google, even our very brains. Featured are: author Steven Johnson, mathematician Steve Strogatz and neurologists Oliver Sacks and Christof Koch.
The program begins tonight at 9pm (MST) on KCFR. In case you aren't local, you can listen online through…
chaoticutopia | November 13, 2006Here's a very short poem about battle or riding the waves... that doesn't actually mention waves or chaos for once:
Casting Pebbles
Each pebble,
Under your foot,
Is meant to be there,
Holding together
The path of your life.
Kick a single pebble,
And find the path
Has changed its course.
(such inevitable change)
Yet with a careful eye,
You may spot jewels,
Along the path of life.
Find rubies and emeralds,
Unique, enduring gems,
Tossed and captured
In your invariable wake.
KLF (11/13/2006)
chaoticutopia | November 10, 2006 Hidden deep within the layers of the Mandelbrot set, subtle, yet familiar forms can almost leap out at you. This happened to me as I applied the coloring formula (based on Gaussian integers) to this week's fractal. I was merely looking for a pattern that was somewhat spotty. I ended up with this:
Originally, I was trying to mimic this...
...The spotted back of this Vietnamese moss frog, which I admired last weekend at the Denver Zoo:
A Vietnemese Moss Frog (Theloderma corticale)
The moss frog, with a gift for camouflage, can be found along streams high in the mountains of Vietnam,…
chaoticutopia | November 7, 2006The day is upon us, the first Tuesday in November, good old election day.
I could, as the "Ask a ScienceBlogger" question of the week requests, discuss the most important political races local to me, or explain why certain ballot initiatives are important, while others are not. But, chances are, you're getting tired of that, and need a break.
So, since you've already gone to vote...
(You have, haven't you?)
...here are a few web-based delights to celebrate election day.
Have you ever wanted to throw tomatoes at that one sleazy congressman? How about unleashing a massive flood on Global…
chaoticutopia | November 3, 2006The other day, I jokingly suggested that a surplus of red tape might lead to human extinction. Leave it to a brewery to take such a threat seriously. Apparently, beer can generate large amounts of red tape, especially when shipped overseas. (One bottle of Heineken, for instance, requires at least 30 documents to enter the US.) In an effort to reduce the amount of paperwork involved with international shipping, Heineken has begun tracking its beer by satellite:
The Beer Living Lab pilot, designed by IBM and the University of Amsterdam, will see 20 beer containers shipped to Heineken's UK…