It's all about the pictures
by
majordomo
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· Score: 5, Interesting
I'm sitting right now one story down from the office of Ken Libbrecht, the guy who wrote the book (and the website). Ken told me that he was writing a book on the physics of snowflakes, and I asked him how he expected to get anyone to buy it. "Pictures," he replied, "lots of pretty pictures!"
Looks like he was right!
Re:It's all about the pictures
by
kfg
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· Score: 4, Interesting
And how is it that he got interested in the physics of snowflakes in the first place?
Bet'cha he saw some pretty pictures somewhere.
The advisor I was assigned to do my senior physics research project under had just written the book on the physics of boomerangs. Why? Because he thought boomerangs were fun, cool, and when he went to look up how they worked found out no one really knew.
My research project was on the dynamics of two wheeled vehicles. Why? Because I adored bicycles, and there were some issues with understanding just how they really worked.
Some people might be surprised at how much real science begins with the simple joy of tossing a boomerang about, or coasting down a curvey road, or some young mind thinking:
"Ooooooooooo, pretty. Me want touch."
KFG
No need to worry about sharp scissors...
by
wka
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I Get To Experience The Best Of Both Worlds!
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 4, Interesting
My observatory is based at 2,000 meters in one of the ten cleanest and driest locations around (the atmospheric aerosol concentrations are the lowest anywhere yet measured outside of Antarctica). As a result, not only do we get beautiful seeing and astronomical-imaging conditions, but the most amazingly beautiful and complex snowflakes I've ever seen. Life is good.:)
Cellular Automata?
by
boomgopher
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Anyone notice how snowflakes look like hexagonal 2D cellular automata? They exhibit a lot of the variation you see when you change the 'rules' of automata systems.
-- Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
Some of the best eary snow flake photograph are from Bentley (1930s). There's even a web site for the Bently snowflake museum.
http://snowflakebentley.com/
Take a break from the trolling, posting and hacking, and enjoy the photographs. They're quite beautiful.
Why they're symmetrical
by
RobotWisdom
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· Score: 5, Interesting
Because each arm experiences the same conditions, the arms tend to look alike, producing large-scale, intricate, six-fold symmetric snow crystals.
This explanation is obviously handwaving-- the symmetry is perfect (or close to it) over scales of millions of molecules.
I've been arguing since 1980 or so that an ice crystal in freefall is not at absolute zero (obviously) so it must have internal vibrations. This is basically 'noise', but as it echoes thru the ice, it stops looking random and becomes symmetrical, like Chladni patterns on a vibrating plate or drumhead. (Or like the radiating circles from a drip of water into a circular pool, reconverging at an opposite point.) Because these symmetries are present from the first stage of growth, they maintain symmetrical growth.
I don't think the 104.5 degree angle between the hydrogens in water molecules is close enough to 120 to deliver perfect hexagonality-- it's probably due to the geometry of echoes in any disk, because hexagons can be inscribed in circles. (The spinning of the seed probably contributes to the flatness-- growing favors the outside edge of the bulge, otherwise it might be more spherical.)
Here's a fractal generated snowflakes screensaver
by
gmezero
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· Score: 3, Interesting
Re:Enough already
by
ackthpt
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Please, we've had more than enough snow already.. wh y don't you study sunshine or something?
sn0w 0wnz j00!
Seriously, this is one of the more intriguing articles I've ever seen on Slashdot. It's made my bookmarks and is certainly inspiration to whip up some stuff in PoV. I'm an old math and geometry buff (and former resident of the Great White North) and appreciate the beauty of snow. Perhaps moreso that I've got all the technology crap to play with it, yet now live in a warm climate.
Yet, there we geeks were, spellbound decades ago by Julias and Mandelbrots, and accumulating libraries of books, like:
The Fractal Geometry of Nature, Benoit B. Mandelbrot
The Science of Fractal Images (Peitgen, Saupe)
The Beauty of Fractals (Peitgen, Richter)
The Algorithmic Beatuy of Plants (Prusinkiewicz, Lindenmayer)
All the while, I could have gone outside and been inspired by a light dusting of tiny snow or those huge flakes which fell infrequently in a dead calm. Sometimes it is good to get outside.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sitting right now one story down from the office of Ken Libbrecht, the guy who wrote the book (and the website). Ken told me that he was writing a book on the physics of snowflakes, and I asked him how he expected to get anyone to buy it. "Pictures," he replied, "lots of pretty pictures!"
Looks like he was right!
... just do it online, with this Flash app.
My observatory is based at 2,000 meters in one of the ten cleanest and driest locations around (the atmospheric aerosol concentrations are the lowest anywhere yet measured outside of Antarctica). As a result, not only do we get beautiful seeing and astronomical-imaging conditions, but the most amazingly beautiful and complex snowflakes I've ever seen. Life is good. :)
Anyone notice how snowflakes look like hexagonal 2D cellular automata?
They exhibit a lot of the variation you see when you change the 'rules' of automata systems.
Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
Some of the best eary snow flake photograph are
from Bentley (1930s). There's even a web site
for the Bently snowflake museum.
http://snowflakebentley.com/
Take a break from the trolling, posting and
hacking, and enjoy the photographs. They're
quite beautiful.
This explanation is obviously handwaving-- the symmetry is perfect (or close to it) over scales of millions of molecules.
I've been arguing since 1980 or so that an ice crystal in freefall is not at absolute zero (obviously) so it must have internal vibrations. This is basically 'noise', but as it echoes thru the ice, it stops looking random and becomes symmetrical, like Chladni patterns on a vibrating plate or drumhead. (Or like the radiating circles from a drip of water into a circular pool, reconverging at an opposite point.) Because these symmetries are present from the first stage of growth, they maintain symmetrical growth.
I don't think the 104.5 degree angle between the hydrogens in water molecules is close enough to 120 to deliver perfect hexagonality-- it's probably due to the geometry of echoes in any disk, because hexagons can be inscribed in circles. (The spinning of the seed probably contributes to the flatness-- growing favors the outside edge of the bulge, otherwise it might be more spherical.)
Here are some nice fractal generated snowflakes...
...they're pretty cool to watch over your desktop after you turn off the stock background art.
weird snow pictures from afar and up close.
sn0w 0wnz j00!
Seriously, this is one of the more intriguing articles I've ever seen on Slashdot. It's made my bookmarks and is certainly inspiration to whip up some stuff in PoV. I'm an old math and geometry buff (and former resident of the Great White North) and appreciate the beauty of snow. Perhaps moreso that I've got all the technology crap to play with it, yet now live in a warm climate.
Yet, there we geeks were, spellbound decades ago by Julias and Mandelbrots, and accumulating libraries of books, like:
The Fractal Geometry of Nature, Benoit B. Mandelbrot
The Science of Fractal Images (Peitgen, Saupe)
The Beauty of Fractals (Peitgen, Richter)
The Algorithmic Beatuy of Plants (Prusinkiewicz, Lindenmayer)
All the while, I could have gone outside and been inspired by a light dusting of tiny snow or those huge flakes which fell infrequently in a dead calm. Sometimes it is good to get outside.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
But why would they be considered naked? Because they don't have a baby carrot for a nose?
Ansi's and stupid tricks!