Thanks to another Vi Hart video, this time I’ve learned all about flexagons. They are very fun to make; kind of like a cross between a Möbius strip and an origami fortune teller.

Heavy handed and brilliant, by Vi Hart.

Article link.

Not really related yet still interesting; someone from slashdot mentions Chernoff faces.

[via Cartesian Product]

A mathematical method of converting a set of data (represented as any function) to the sum of its wave components.

Basically, this is a result of the idea that a function can be exactly recreated using only combinations of sin and cosin functions of various amplitude, phase, and frequency. The trick is that most transforms require a lot of computing to tease out every wave component.

Fractal Lab uses JavaScript and WebGL to render customizable, two and three dimensional fractals that you can fly around. Watch the above video for an introduction or visit the website and start exploring.

• Shift to sprint, Alt to slow down
• The “constants” require recompiling, other parameters update in realtime
• According to the video, it takes windows users about twenty times as long as osx users to recompile, so heads up
• Uncheck “preview mode” to disable upscaling
• The site also allows for altering the fractal shader code, saving fractals, and loading them

[via DownloadSquad]

Update
The gentleman who made Fractal Lab has a very cool website exploring 3D fractals. Here is a mesmerizing video of the evolving surface structure of such a fractal.