Structure In A Structure In A Structure...

I'll briefly interrupt the usual whooshy wind and tumbleweed here at Fresh Brainz with this video you just HAVE to see.

Check it out in 720p for all the astounding detail.

At first, it seems like a well made, Transformer-esque CG virtualscape...



... but when it zooms in, you start to see recursive patterns of Lego-like metallic plates, and it zooms further in and...

HEY! SELF SIMILARITY!

It's a fractal!

Yes my friends, now solids can also be fractals.

Apparently, such 3D fractal sets have only been developed a couple of years ago, and mathematicians are still considering if it is a "true" 3D Mandelbrot set.

But mathematical rigour aside - just think of the artistic potential!

The ability to generate visually spectacular landscapes with both sweeping scale AND detail - simply by plugging numbers into a formula.

Incredible, bizarre environments that goes to the limit (or beyond?) of human imagination.

Filmmakers and gamemakers, get a crackin'.


Would you like to know more?

Other epic 3D fractal videos:
- Mandelbox trip (YouTube)
- Trip to center of hybrid fractal (YouTube)

About the mathematics of 3D fractals:
- The Mandelbulb: first 'true' 3D image of famous fractal (New Scientist)
- Mandelbulb: The Unravelling of the Real 3D Mandelbrot Fractal (by Daniel White)
- Mandelbox (by Tom Lowe)

Tech Review: Garmin eTrex 20 Handheld GPS

I just purchased a Garmin eTrex 20 handheld GPS (released in late September 2011) and I decided to do a quick user review of it.

Here, check out my video:



This is my first GPS device, which means I can't do a relative comparison with other units.

So, based on its own merits, here are my comments on the eTrex 20:

1. Build quality is solid, and when loaded with batteries it has a nice, reassuring heft to it. Dark grey areas are rubberized for wear resistance. USB connection is hidden under a rubber weather-resistant flap, and the micro-SD slot is protected inside the battery compartment, which are thoughtful design features.

2. The glassy LCD screen is tad reflective when viewed under direct sunlight.

3. Ability to decode both GPS and GLONASS satellite signals is a very useful feature. In the field, it takes less than a minute to get a position fix, and the precision is quite good, around 4 metres at best.

4. It works well inside vehicles too, I've tried it in buses and get practically instantaneous position and speed readings. It will definitely work as a car GPS, though that is not its intended function.


Would you like to know more?
- GPS (Wikipedia)
- GLONASS (Wikipedia)

Space Launch System: The "Shutturn V" ?

NASA has announced their latest plan for a heavy launch vehicle - capable of manned missions into space - called the "Space Launch System (SLS)".

That isn't a particularly imaginative name.

YouTube commenter linghun dubbed it the "Shutturn V", which is actually quite appropriate, since the SLS is both technological and visually a hybrid of the Space Shuttle and Saturn V vehicles.

Here, check out NASA's video...



The SLS is a multistage, non-reusable vehicle that can launch both cargo-only and human-rated missions, much like the Saturn V.

The core stage uses an arrangement of five engines (Saturn V), which will consist of five RS-25 engines (Space Shuttle), while the upper stage uses a modernized version of the J-2 engine (Saturn V).

The first stage fuel tank will have the same diameter as the external tank of the Space Shuttle, and likely manufactured using similar methods. Two solid-fuel rocket boosters are attached, one on each side (Space Shuttle).

Visually, it either looks like a short Saturn V flanked with extra boosters, or a tall Space Shuttle external tank but without the Shuttle orbiter itself.

Appearances aside, expert observers seem to be unimpressed with the SLS programme and are already predicting its demise, calling it more of a job-creation exercise that may cost more than a completely new launch system, due to the re-hiring of the expensive legacy workforce.

To me, the SLS appears to have a much safer layout than the recently cancelled Ares I which perched human passengers on top of a solid-fuel first stage that cannot be throttled down or even shut down after ignition.

Of course the longevity of this new initiative is difficult to predict in this gloomy economic climate, and in light of less costly alternatives such as the SpaceX Falcon Heavy system, which is further along in development and has better scalability by using essentially the same engines and fuel tank components throughout.

Nevertheless, the SLS vehicle can initially lift 70 tonnes of payload into low-Earth orbit, up to a maximum of 129 tonnes in later configurations (more than Saturn V's 118 tonnes!). Even at 70 tonnes it would already be the heaviest lift launch vehicle in the world, compared to other launch systems currently in service.

Maximum lift capacity to LEO:
Delta IV-H (USA) ~ 23 tonnes
Proton M (Russia) ~ 21.6 tonnes
Ariane 5 (EU) ~ 21 tonnes
H-IIB (Japan) ~ 19 tonnes
Atlas V (USA) ~ 18.5 tonnes

If all goes according to plan, the first flight (unmanned) of the SLS is slated to be in December 2017.


Would you like to know more?
- NASA’s Space Launch System Unveiled: Analysis (Popular Mechanics)

Space Shuttle Rolls Into History

A quiet night landing of the space shuttle Atlantis, returning from the STS-135 mission, marked the end of the US space shuttle programme.





NASA's Constellation Program, which was projected to develop a replacement rocket for the space shuttle, was cancelled last year.

While the government is not currently working on a shuttle replacement, potential private sector candidates include the Falcon 9-Dragon vehicle from SpaceX, which has been successful in test launches so far, but is still in early development.

Thus for the foreseeable future the USA will no longer have any human-rated launch vehicle.

Without manned spacecraft, US astronauts will now have to rely solely on the Russian Soyuz to access the International Space Station.


Would you like to know more?

About the past future of spaceship design:
- Counterintuitive Science: Fast Speed, Fat Shape

Goodbye To Tanjong Pagar!

Here's my video of the last train service to leave Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, taken from a pedestrian bridge.




Apparently there was an additional 11:00pm train driven by the Sultan of Johor himself.

I didn't catch that but somebody else did; please check out his video.

So... I only managed to film the penultimate train.

I love that word.


Would you like to know more?
- Video of last train out of Tanjong Pagar, driven by the Sultan of Johor
- Video of last afternoon train