Fractal Friday

SciArt covers many forms of expression but a favorite of many of us is the fractal. Here is an excellent example of fractal art. I would like to thank him for allowing the use of the "blog this" function of flickr.

Flickr Artist: cammi_angel_2004
cammi_angel_2004, the artist, says this about his art,

"I currently have a major obsession with Apophysis, a fractal-making program. Apophysis is a mathematical computer program that crunches numbers based on formulas built-into the program, and some that the user can create, to generate branching patterns of color. The program is free to download and use from this address: www.apophysis.org/"

Feline Photo Art

What happens when you combine the science of digital photography and the curiosity of a cat? You get a whole new look on the world. Did you ever wonder where cats go during their daily walks? Now you can find out in an amazing feline display combining science and art.

Follow Mr. Lee on his journeys as a digital camera attached to his collar periodically snaps a new photograph.


Mr. Lee

Dust Sculptures, Sci-Art in the Universe

Our first universe sci-art sculptures come from the files of the Astronomy Picture of the Day.


Dust Sculptures in the Rosette Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Ignacio de la Cueva Torregrosa

Explanation: What creates the cosmic dust sculptures in the Rosette Nebula? Noted for the common beauty of its overall shape, parts of the Rosette Nebula, also known as NGC 2244, show beauty even when viewed up close. Visible above are globules of dark dust and gas that are slowly being eroded away by the energetic light and winds by nearby massive stars. Left alone long enough, the molecular-cloud globules would likely form stars and planets. The above image was taken in very specific colors of Sulfur (shaded red), Hydrogen (green), and Oxygen (blue). The Rosette Nebula spans about 50 light-years across, lies about 4,500 light-years away, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

Sci-Art Guess of the Week

Here is a beautiful example of a photo that blends art and science. Can you guess what this object might be? When you figure it out or give up all you have to do is click on the image and your curiosity will be quenched.


David Hirmes
(c) 2005

Great news, as with most great art there is an artist that needs to eat. You can purchase this limited edition image or any of the other fine photos on his site.

Tell me is the Guess of the Week a feature you would like to see continued?

Plasma Pong

What was the first video game to achieve widespread popularity in both arcade and home console versions, and launched the initial boom in the video game industry? You guessed it, Pong by Atari.

How is this first video game associated with my pick for Site of the Week? The site selected this week is the home of Plasma Pong. You heard me pong has been brought into the 21 century!


The game was created by Steve Taylor. He describes the game by saying,

"PLASMA PONG is a variation of PONG that utilizes real-time fluid dynamics to drive the game environment.

Players have several new abilities that add fun twists to the classic game. In the game you can inject plasma fluid into the environment, create a vacuum from your paddle, and blast shockwaves into the playing area. All these abilities have fluid-based kinetic effects on the ball, making Plasma Pong a fast-paced and exciting game."

For bringing old school video games, modern science, and art together in an amazing game "Plasma Pong" is the first Sci-Art Site of the Week. Thanks Steve, also check out his screen shots gallery, Amazing!

Here is a video of the game. The left side is a real player the right side is the computer. The music you hear in the video is from the game itself.


Go to Plasma Pong and download a version for your machine and start playing today.

Sci Art Bloggers

I have seen blog alliances set up for many groups. Here are some examples:

The Progressive Blog Alliance
Badger Blog Alliance
Alliance of Free Blogs
Dakota Blog Alliance
LGBT Blog Alliance
The Big Brass Alliance
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
Old Dominion Blog Alliance
Blogs for Bush
Blogs for McCain's Opponent

You can see that in the above sampling you have 4 political, 3 locality, 2 specialty alliances and 1 alliance whose goal is to replace Instapundit as the biggest thing in the blogosphere by means of links, hits, and humor, thereby helping Alliance members evolve upward through the Ecosystem.

I couldn't find any alliance that I felt comfortable joining, so I decided to start an alliance that will benefit the many unique blogs out there that combine science and art.

The Sci-Art Bloggers Alliance is one way to get your blog "‘out there,"’ where others that share similar interests can find your blog.

Interested? Here'’s the deal:

Definition

Sci-Art Bloggers is a loose association of bloggers for whom blogging is a labor of love and the topic of the blog remotely connects science and art.

While I love fractal art I wish this alliance to be broader than just fractals. Niche Photoblogs covering nature, urban, food etc.. would be nice additions. Anyone that finds art in science is welcome. Beautiful art can be found in the natural, physical, culinary, urban, social sciences etc...

Purpose

To allow amateur bloggers to provide support (both moral and traffic related) to one another.

Membership Requirements

I) To be eligible to become a Sci-Art Blogger one must

1. Have a blog, I will not allow pure "store fronts" in the alliance.
2. Keep that blog relatively family-friendly (PG-13 ok).
   

II) Each member will maintain a Sci-Art blogroll using the Blogrolling code found in the tech section below which will display the 20 most recently updated Sci-Art blogs. Each member will also link back to Sci-Art using one of the buttons below or a button of your own design.

Cool Stuff

Aside from the obvious benefits of joining Sci-Art Bloggers (lots of links) I will feature the "Weekly Best Of" where any of you may email me the link to your favorite posting for the week(or whenever).

Sci-Art Bloggers Friday Favorites

Sound good? Send me an email and join Sci-Art Bloggers!

Tech Section

1) Hotlinking With The Sci-Art Bloggers Button

Feel free to choose your favorite button to hotlink from or create one of your own and send it to me and I will host it here for all to use.

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The below were created online @ Cool Text, you can create your own in seconds.

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The below were created online @ Adam Kalsey's Button Maker, you can create your own in seconds.

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The below is an example using the javascript blogroll code, modify as required for your blog.

This code will place the Sci-Art Button at the bottom of the blogroll:

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Sci-Art Bloggers</h2> <script language="javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=823f47764d9e6954a5484ffa58c377b0" type="text/javascript"></script><br/><a href="http://sci-art.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" alt="Sci-Art Sotw" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/2329/114871629647210/226/z/190282/gse_multipart44879.png" target="_blank" title="Home of Sci-Art Bloggers" /></a>

This code uses this Sci-Art Bloggers Button. If you want to choose another style just replace this image with the one you want to replace it with.

Also use whatever header code is appropriate for your sidebar, "h2" is just my example. Also the "br"s are just forced line breaks add or remove as needed.

2) Blogrolling Javascript And Other Code

If you have experience and require other then the javascript here is info on other code that you can use to retrieve the blogroll.

We also ask that each member maintain a list of fellow Sci-Art Bloggers using one of the following code methods (use the method best suited for your blog) :

Java Script (easiest for most blogs)

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=823f47764d9e6954a5484ffa58c377b0"></script>

RSS

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/rss.php?r=823f47764d9e6954a5484ffa58c377b0

OPML

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/opml.php?r=823f47764d9e6954a5484ffa58c377b0

PHP

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display_raw.php?r=823f47764d9e6954a5484ffa58c377b0

This Blogrolling account is set up to show only the 20 most recently updated blogs. In theory, each time you publish a post on your blog you should be moved to the top of the list automatically. However, some blog services seem to not ping Blogrolling upon publishing. If you experience this problem you can manually ping using this form.

Privacy Policy

Sci-Art celebrates web sites and blogs that dare to feature that blurry edge where art and science become one.. While we encourage visitors to engage in our website, we also wish to educate you about issues of privacy when visiting our site.

What Information is Collected?

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If Sci-Art adds features that involve the collection of personal information (such as electronic greeting cards, newsletters or bulletin boards), these features will comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 ("COPPA"), and there will be a parental consent process in place. This Privacy Statement will be updated if these features are added, so please periodically review this page.

E-mail collection of personal information

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