; Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:50:00 -0400 ; From: Jim Muth ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 23-04-11 (Frosty Snowflakes [8]) ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20110422205003.201741d2@pop.earthlink.net> ; --------- ; ; FOTD -- April 23, 2011 (Rating 8) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; Today's image takes us back to the fantastic world of ; evaporation as seen through the MandNewt06a formula. The image ; consists mostly of inside stuff, though it appears to be a 50-50 ; inside-outside mixture. All that remains of the outside stuff ; in fact is the dots. The rest has pretty much evaporated away. ; ; I really like today's image, which I think deserves an honest ; rating of an 8. ; ; The name "Frosty Snowflakes" refers to the white dots scattered ; about parts of the scene. These dots are the remains of the ; outside stuff, which has all but totally evaporated away. ; ; The calculation time of 3-3/4 minutes is a bargain, considering ; that the result rates an 8. ; ; For the convenience of those who would rather not calculate the ; images, the finished image may be found on the FOTD web site at: ; ; ; ; A hi-def version is posted at: ; ; ; ; The original web site with all the bells and whistles is at: ; ; ; ; It is not up to date, though Paul has just posted a message to ; the Fractint list, letting us know he is still around. ; ; The formula that creates today's image appears to behave ; differently when used with different programs and math routines. ; So I cannot guarantee that the image generated on all systems ; will be identical to the image on the web sites. Some alternate ; renderings actually appear to be better than my own however. ; ; Recent messages on the list have my philosophical urges once ; again rising. I have read that the four greatest achievements ; of the human mind are the invention of Calculus, the theory of ; relativity, the theory of quantum mechanics, and the discovery ; of fractals. I pretty much agree. Each of these advances has ; expanded our view of the world we live in and at the same time ; raised new questions about the nature of reality. ; ; The Calculus demonstrated that, in some mysterious fashion, the ; laws and workings of the physical world can be encoded into the ; abstractions we call numbers. The encoding works so well that ; we can often learn more by working with the numerical models ; than we can by direct observation. ; ; Relativity demonstrated that time and space are not what they ; seem. According to relativity, time, space, mass, energy, ; acceleration, gravity, and so on are not the absolute fixed ; independent things they appear to be from our limited perspec- ; tive, but are united in higher dimensions into different ; aspects of a single thing. Relativity has so far passed all ; the tests devised to check it. ; ; Quantum mechanics has found that the sub-atomic particles making ; up the physical world do not appear as actual particles until we ; look to see them. When we are not looking, nothing exists but ; energy fields of varying strength that can be represented only ; as numbers. This raises the perplexing question of how things ; that exist only when someone is looking can be the building ; blocks of physical objects that are assumed to continue existing ; even when no one is looking. Quantum mechanics has also passed ; all the tests devised to check it. ; ; Unfortunately for the peace of mind of theoretical physicists, ; relativity and the quantum do not fit comfortably together. The ; two theories predict the existence of things that are incompat- ; ible with each other, and so far have defied all efforts to ; blended them into a single theory of everything except the ; self-awareness of those seeking the theory. ; ; Fractals demonstrate that simple everyday numbers are indeed ; capable of creating entire infinite universes. (We must remem- ; ber that complex numbers are made of simple numbers.) When we ; work with fractals, we see the behavior of reiterated complex ; numbers being transformed by machines into abstract shapes that ; have all the features of real physical objects except actual ; objective existence other than as pictures. ; ; This leads me to wonder whether much the same thing is happening ; in our everyday lives. Are our conscious minds like computers? ; Are our minds actually computing machines, constantly transform- ; ing the behavior of the far-more-complex quantum numbers into ; the mental images we take to be solid objects filling the four- ; dimensional spacetime world that we appear to live in? ; ; I'll have more to say about this stuff in upcoming discussions. ; And be assured that my ideas will respect no sacred cows of ; either science, religion or politics. ; ; Now on to the weather report. Friday began with clouds moving ; in here at Fractal Central. Rain moved in during the afternoon, ; while the temperature hovered around an unseasonably chilly 46F ; +8C. The fractal cats disapproved of the chilly wet conditions ; -- from the comfort of their indoor shelf of course. ; ; The humans' day was acceptable, though nothing to applaud. The ; next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, ; eat, drink and enjoy fractals, for tomorrow we . . . ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jimmuth@earthlink.net ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Frosty_Snowflakes { ; time=0:03:47.45-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm formulaname=MandNewt06a passes=1 center-mag=-554.8\ 55/-35.6804/0.001919476/1/-22.5/0 params=1/2/3/-3/2/1/1e-028/0 float=y maxiter=500 inside=bof61 periodicity=0 colors=0009osClrEiqGfqGcoG`mGYkGViGSgGPeGCdA0OJH_K\ FYLCVIATN7RB0FL9TWGYZTaebghkjnoossrwvzzzzVBJUBJUCJ\ TCJTAISDISDIRBHR9HREHQEGQAGPAGPFGOFFOBFN8FNEENEEMB\ EM7ELDDLDDKBDK9CJECJECIBBJ9CJECJECJACJ9CJDCJDDJ9DJ\ 9DJEDJDDJ8DJADJFEJFEJ9EJBEJFEJFEJAEJAFJFFJFFJBFJBF\ JFFJEGJCGJCGJEGJEGJDGJDGJDHJDHJDHJDHJCHJCHJCHJCIJC\ IJBIJBIJBIJBIJBIJAJJAJJAJJAJJAJJ9JJ9KJ9KJ9KJ9KJ9KJ\ 8KJ8KJ8LJ8LJ8LJ7LJ7LJ7LJ7LJ7MJ6MJAMJ6MJ6MJ6MNFKJ6M\ L7NO8OXKPT9RVASXBTcPUaCWdDXfEYoUZkF`mGarHbvZczHezI\ dzIdzcdzJczJcvJctZbqKbqKbpKapUaoLaoL`nL`mQ`mM_lM_l\ M_kNZkNZjNZjNZiOYiOYhOYhPXgPXgPXfPWeQWeQWdQVdQVcRV\ cRUbRUbSUaSTaST`ST`TS_TS_TSZTSYURYURXURXVQWVQWVQVV\ PVWPUWPUWOTWOTXOSXNSXNRYNQYMQYMPYMPZLOZLOZLNZLN_KM\ _KMcKLcJLcJKcJKmIJmIImIzmHzmHzmHzmGGmGzmGFmFzqFEtF\ zwEDzECzEBz9CzBCzCCzDCzECzGzzHDzIzzJDzLzzMDzNEzOzz\ QzzREzSzzLzzLzzLzzKzzKzzK } frm:MandNewt06a {; Jim Muth z=c=(pixel*p1): a=z^3+(c-p2)*z-c b=p3*z^2+c-1 z=z-1*a/b p4 < |a| } ; END PARAMETER FILE========================================= ; ; ; ; _______________________________________________ ; Fractint mailing list ; Fractint@mailman.xmission.com ; http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fractint ;