L'aura del Campo

Fractals, Mandelbrot, Julia Sets, Aussie drought, Shetland

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by panthera

L'aura del campo

WINTER: 13 Sultan (31 January) 25º and light .

'é a lua, é a lua, na quintana dos mortos'
♣ Federico García Lorca ♣

Fractals, Mandelbrot Sets and Julia Sets

Was reading a book on fractals. One could say it is the intersection where biology (as well as other sciences) and mathematics meet. I was intrigued by the idea of a figure (a Mandelbrot set) that when magnified showed the most intricate traceries. Utterly beautiful. At even greater magnifications the pattern was found repeated within itself. Utterly astonishing. This following link is for Mandelbrot sets and Julia sets:

http://www.math.binghamton.edu/topics/mandel/index.html

Fractals are naturally occurring phenomena. It doesn't take much imagination to see the similarities between cauliflower, brains and lungs. Or trees and the mouths of river deltas. It also helps explain why one can look at a cloud and not know its size without knowing its distance. All clouds have 'cloud-like' forms. Mountains are also difficult to gage as in "is that a small close mountain or a far-away big one", because mountains are 'mountain-like'.

A practical human application may come in detection of cancer as cancer cells have a different fractal form than healthy cells.

And Julia sets? Wonderful just for their beauty; traditional Celtic and Islamic motifs have much in common with them.

Me?

Ate two chicken thighs and chocolate milk. If it doesn't kill me, will it make me stronger?

Overwhelmed would describe this week so far. I laid down and nearly missed my book-making class. And then a friend cheered me up along the way to class, which called for the first cigarette of the year (I smoke one, maybe two per year) and that delayed me so I arrived late.

Katy wants to do a photo essay on me! Yikes! We may meet Monday.

WATT'S GNU

Drought in Australia. GG very happy mentions the drought in Australia in her blog that has been going on for 6 years.

The government of New South Wales commissioned a study that indicates that temperatures may rise 9 degrees before the end of the century, making drought a reality 9 years out of 10 instead of the current 3 of 10.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_sc/australia_climate_change

I asked GG whether there were any good effects of the drought (like cold killing off the bugs here in Kansas). She said no, that when it does rain it just leads to a problem with locusts. In this entry there is a picture of her parents place: "Invalid Entry" .

Of course, with dry weather come clear skies. She was able to watch the McNaught comet and put a picture (she didn't take it) of what she basically saw: "Invalid Entry" 

South Shetland Islands cruise may not be for everyone, but I sure wish we had Nada aboard so we could get the real story! Seems a Norwegian cruise ship ran aground and it did damage to the hull. Not to worry though, everyone is fine, another ship is coming and who wouldn't want an extra day in Walker Bay? I bet Nada would rather be sitting in Paradise Cove on Deception Island. Why? Well it's a volcanic caldera and one can sit on the black sand beaches and boil one foot from the steaming water while the other freezes! One can actually swim there. The South Shetlands have lots of penguins and even old moss banks, 2 species of flowers and lots of ice. One watches the whales if one is lucky.

Now I know where Nada should go next (if she doesn't cruise Alaska that is). The folks who go on these expeditionary cruises would probably be a somewhat different crowd than the trips out of California or the Caribbean.

The ship and its story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-31-cruiseship_x.htm?csp=34

A couple links about the South Shetlands:

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Travel/south_shetland_islands.htm
http://www.adventure-life.com/articles/south-shetland-105.php

S.O.S.

Who will listen to the whisper of the stars that will be born tomorrow
if not us?
Who will gently nourish the seeds of life within them
that burst forth?
Who will count their offspring
if not us?

Who will burp them of their gas, exchange their water, add land's mass,
extend a greeting as life takes hold;
who will tend the rocks, the seas, the garden's mold that sprouts thin arms
to hail us?

We will.

We will share with them the stories of the night, the pinprick lights that glow
beyond their shores.
And they'll respond in pulses, tap out code: know us ... know us ... know us ...
save our souls.

[163.566]

Unusually long lines for me, but it was intentional. The poem seems to fall into the group I nominally call 'Zmitri'. A set of surreal poems speaking of loss and connections beyond the scope and frontiers of known space and time.

The weather was calm yesterday. Bright sunshiny blue with a bitter wind that blew me down old Haskell Street. It was pretty to look at from the inside out. Today, fine snow dusts everything with a glaze of white.

IMAGES

I noticed today how the different trees gather the snow unto themselves. The elm and ash bark holds it well, while maples pile it up in the crotches of its branches. The cedar catches snow with its highest limbs, leaving little to reach the ground. It's bark is bare. The sycamore also tends to shed the flakes, much like it sheds its mottled bark. Some oak leaves are still hanging on to the lower branches; bare arms reaching to the sky with skirts of brown. There isn't much to see in winter ...

READING

I started Viking Magic by Angela Wells, a romance set in Denmark. So far I'll give it a grade of C. Because the story line is predictable, the details of characters and place must hold the interest. It's not dreadful (well ... maybe), but I'm not a reader of romance.

Dailies and Rushes by Susan Kinsolving is awesome!

BLOGVILLE

I couldn't help myself:

I responded to an entry "Invalid Entry"  by schipperke with my own sense of humor that I find I use more in response to other people's blogs than I use in my own:

The best low maintenance car has two wheels, two seats and hubby pedaling. (re trading in the old car)

The best heat pump is in Maui. A vacation of at least two weeks is advised. (re the heat pump went)

Laptops are Great! A secretary ... priceless. (re a loan and paying off the laptop)

Tents are easier to move than houses (new or old). (re moving to a another house)

Old slippers should never be thrown out until hubby gets rid of all his clothes with holes in them. (re her photo of barely broken in slippers)

Now there is a list of 5 for scarlett_o_h!

And we have a new blogger who is capturing the attention around WDC: I wrote this to Carolina Blue in response to a very nice email he sent me about my blog (edited here):

Thank you. It took a while for my blog to become a "smorgasbord feast of words" as you put it. You are on entry #5? Mine is approaching #490. Believe me, it
took time to learn about emoticons and color, to know how to link to the web and to other blogs, to build up a readership.

I learned that I'm googled, that I get 100 views per blog entry and maybe 10-15 comments. 2/3 of my views are from off site. Who knows why! Because I vary my entries a bit and at times name names, I've had a bit of success, even to the point of reconnecting with a cousin I haven't seen in 30 years.

I've tried to be open about things that would be palatable to my family and friends, hiding harsher truths elsewhere. The WDC members who are kind enough to comment can pick and choose among the various things I write about, avoiding issues they do not wish to touch. That is part of the success too.

Every blog is different. Over time you will develop your own style. You are blessed to already have a readership. Maintaining that is also work. Read as many blogs as you can and comment generously so others feel welcome to return the favor. K.

Now, Speaking of reading blogs ... I decided to read everybody on my list. Since the 26th I have read 59 blogs and left 121 comments. I still have 31 blogs to go to finish the cycle before starting all over again.

Quote

Wealth is fleeting and will never completely satisfy anyone. To put faith in wealth is to be a fool, for it will cause pain both this world and in the next.

from Excellence in Jainism

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