pretendy

Science, maths and computers.

The BioVisions project by Harvard University’s Alain Viel and Robert Lue is a stunningly beautiful and accurate exploration of the small. In this video we take a tour of the mitochondria and all its inner workings. If you’re expecting a cheap medical drama style zoom in, then prepare to be awed. This thing is incredible.

(Source: amolecularmatter)

I’m in love with these kind of old style TV science demonstrations.

‘Realistic’ rendering of carbon nanotubes by Joel Brehm. The honeycomb structure is characteristic of many carbon based substances such as graphite, graphene and nanotubes. By ‘realistic’ i mean it looks like it could be a photograph rather than being a computer image. I don’t mean this is what carbon nanotubes ‘actually look like’.

‘Realistic’ rendering of carbon nanotubes by Joel Brehm. The honeycomb structure is characteristic of many carbon based substances such as graphite, graphene and nanotubes.

By ‘realistic’ i mean it looks like it could be a photograph rather than being a computer image. I don’t mean this is what carbon nanotubes ‘actually look like’.

Though this looks like it could be a rocky outcrop, it’s actually an electron microscope image of stacked layers of a titanium-based compound. Each layer is only five atoms in thickness.

Though this looks like it could be a rocky outcrop, it’s actually an electron microscope image of stacked layers of a titanium-based compound.

Each layer is only five atoms in thickness.

(Source: sciencemag.org)

Like many viruses, adenoviruses (pictured) have a distinctive icosahedral structure, a la: This is because an icosahedron is the optimum way of assembling a closed shell out of identical sub-units. A virus is constructed in just this way - identical triangular units called capsomers arrange themselves to form a protective closed shell around the virus’ genetic material. And they do this in the most mathematically optimum way, as if they’ve studied calculus. Yay for maths!

Like many viruses, adenoviruses (pictured) have a distinctive icosahedral structure, a la:

This is because an icosahedron is the optimum way of assembling a closed shell out of identical sub-units. A virus is constructed in just this way - identical triangular units called capsomers arrange themselves to form a protective closed shell around the virus’ genetic material. And they do this in the most mathematically optimum way, as if they’ve studied calculus.

Yay for maths!

Lorenz attractor by pretendy

Lorenz attractor by pretendy

Waves by Daniel Palacios

Waves by Daniel Palacios

Swallow

tree by pretendy

This animation aims to demonstrate how a simple fractal can be transformed into a structure reminiscent of a tree, highlighting one of the many facets of fractal geometry in nature.

(Source: oghatinnoti)

I'm a physics student at the University of Warwick, UK.

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