; Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 11:33:28 -0500 ; From: Jim Muth ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 10-02-03 (Stuff [3]) ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20030210113637.2997565e@pop.mindspring.com> ; --------- ; FOTD -- February 10, 2003 (Rating 3) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; I named today's less-than-stellar image "Stuff" because it is a ; good illustration of the fragmented bits and pieces of ; something, or perhaps nothing, that I call fractal 'stuff'. ; This stuff is not material, since it has no physical basis; yet ; it is not a total abstraction, since it can easily be rendered ; and visualized. It is just 'stuff', and that is what I have ; always considered it. ; ; The exponent of Z in the generating formula is 1.559612. I ; chose this number because 1.559612^1.559612 almost equals 2. ; (1.559611 is closer.) This fact has little significance in the ; appearance of the resulting fractal, and was chosen on a whim. ; ; Luckily, the image renders in only a few minutes, for I could ; honestly rate it no higher than an abysmal 3. But it is still ; worth a quick glance. As always, the GIF file has been posted ; to: ; ; ; ; and to: ; ; ; ; While rummaging around in the attic yesterday, I came upon the ; dried-out remnants of a toy chemistry set that I had played with ; long ago and then grown tired of. I have no idea how it got ; there, for I have moved several times since I received it as a ; Christmas gift back in the years when I was filled with wonder ; and just discovering science. (I also had a toy microscope, a ; toy telescope, a toy weather station, an erector set that was ; supposed to build a walking robot, [I never managed to get the ; robot constructed.], and all the other goodies that boys who ; have decided to become scientists enjoy.) ; ; As fate would have it, I never became a 'scientist', whatever ; one of them is. I almost accidentally became involved in the ; printing trade and eventually became a graphic designer. But I ; have never lost that sense of scientific wonder. ; ; However, since those early years, I have become familiar with ; relativity and quantum theory. As a result, I now wonder more ; than anything else about the philosophical basis of science. ; Where I once wondered what the moon is made of, I now wonder if ; the physical world actually is an 'objective reality' or if ; 'reality' is an attribute we have invented for convenience and ; then bestowed upon the aggregate of our sensual impressions. ; And I wonder whether it makes a difference. ; ; The star Sirius is 8 light years away. When I was much younger, ; this meant that if something were to happen at this moment on ; that star, we would not know about it for 8 years, because it ; would take 8 years for the information to reach us. Then I ; became interested in relativity and found that there is no such ; thing as a universal present moment of time. The phrase 'at ; this moment on that star' has different meanings for different ; observers. Instead of thinking that our present moment of time ; now exists at the position of the star, but due to the finite ; speed of light, we on earth are seeing the star as it existed 8 ; years ago, we can just as accurately think that we are seeing ; the star as it presently exists and the actual time at the star ; is now 8 years in the future, and it will take us 8 years to ; reach that future time. ; ; So at this moment, what time actually exists on the star Sirius? ; The question cannot be answered. Time is relative. Asking such ; a question is like asking someone to find the center of the ; surface of a featureless sphere. All that can be said is that ; wherever a particular observer is located, that observer will ; find himself in his own private present moment of time. ; ; And what does this ambiguity of time mean to us in our everyday ; lives? It means nothing at all -- that is unless we begin ; traveling around our galactic vicinity at a velocity which is a ; sizeable percentage of the velocity of light. When (and if) ; this time comes, we will find ourselves faced with such present- ; day absurdities as having a twin who was born at the same time ; as ourselves, yet is 20 years older or younger. But when this ; happens, the absurdities will not be absurd at all. ; ; This relativistic situation might seen weird enough, but ; relativity at least leaves us with a real world, objectively out ; there to serve as a firm foundation for the science we have ; developed over thousands of years. This is more than quantum ; theory does when it brings into question the very existence of ; objective reality. ; ; With ample sun and a temperature of 41F 5C, the weather was ; quite pleasant here at F.C. on Sunday. Had the ground not been ; snow-covered, the dynamically fractal cats would have had a ; great day in the yard. As it was, they had a not-quite-as-great ; day on the porch, chasing the few sunbeams that are just ; beginning to reach there. Today is starting cloudy and colder, ; with on-and-off periods of light snow. The duo will not enjoy ; this. ; ; I'll enjoy the day better when I finish the work, and I will not ; finish until I resume it, so until next time, take care, and ; never lose that sense of wonder, but be careful what you wonder ; about. ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jamth@mindspring.com ; jimmuth@aol.com ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE================================ Stuff {;time=a few minutes-SF5 on a p200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC1 function=floor passes=1 center-mag=+0.68446783504689930/-0.804007887280942\ 20/1008.977/1/-165/2.03941030729737349e-013 params=1.559612/0/64/0 float=y maxiter=1100 inside=0 logmap=71 periodicity=10 colors=000osiqujrwktyluzmsynrxnqwnpvnovnnuomtolsok\ sojroiqohppgppfopenpdmpcmpail`fiZcfY`cXY`VVYUSVTPS\ RLPQIMOFJNCGM9DK6AJ37I04J47J7AKADKDFKHILKLLNNMQQMU\ TzmVwlYuk`ojbhg`bd_VbZT`XV_WW`VY`TZaS`bRaaPcaOdaNe\ `Lg`Kh`Jj_Hk_Gm_FnZDpZCqZBsY9tY8uY7sW9rVAqUBpTCoSE\ nRFlPGkOHjNIiMKhLLgKMeINdHPcGQbFRaES`DTWMSRURMbRHj\ QDrQFsPHtPJuOLvONwNPxNRyNQxOQxPQwQPwRPwSPvTPvUOvVO\ uWOuXOuYNtZNt_Ns`MsaMsbMrcMrdLreLqfLqgLqhMrlMspOqo\ PonQnmRllSjkTijUgiVehWdgXbfY`eZ_d_Yc`XbY_ZVaWScSQe\ PNgLKiIIkEFmBCo7Aq4Gp9MpDSoHYoLcnQinUomYtmaoo_jpYf\ rWasUXtSTvQOwOKxMSmR_bVgTZoIbv8flCcbFaTJZKMYIOZGP_\ FQ`ERaFTbHUcIVdJWeKXfLYgMZhNZiO_jP`kQ`lRamSbnTboU`\ pV_qWZrX_sY`tZau_cv`cwacxbcycczcczcezcgzchzckzckzc\ lzclzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmz\ cmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcm\ zcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmzcmz } frm:MandelbrotBC1 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)-q Z=C=Pixel: Z=log(Z) IF(imag(Z)>r) Z=Z+flip(2*PI) ENDIF Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C |Z|