A Quasi-quasicrystal

Science News / A Quasi-quasicrystal

Jules Mikhael and his colleagues didn’t set out to make a material with a structure that had never been seen before, much less one that combines order and irregularity in a whole new way, one that Archimedes hinted at 2,000 years ago, one bound together by the Fibonacci sequence. They just wanted to understand a quasicrystal.

Even that wasn’t such a modest goal, because quasicrystals are pretty odd critters. Slice one in half, and there is a sort of mosaic with repeating shapes like tiles, much like a crystal. But here’s the bizarre part: Spin the resulting mosaic a fifth of a turn and often its tiles will line up exactly as they were before you spun it.

But that kind of five-fold symmetry is “forbidden,” because mathematicians have shown that no repeating flat pattern has it. That’s why you’ve never seen a bathroom tiled with pentagons—it’d be impossible to cover the whole surface with no gaps

This is mindbogglingly amazing. You must check out the pictures and read it. And if it doesn’t make sense, keep reading it until it does!

Psychological aspects of cyberspace: Theory, research, applications.

Just found this book/site on the AoIR list: http://cyberpsych.yeda.info/

The psychology of cyberspace, or cyberpsychology, is a new field of study. Fewer than a handful of universities around the world offer a course in this emerging area, despite the unequivocal fact that many activities today take place online. In this novel social environment, new psychological circumstances project onto new rules governing human experiences, including physiological responses, behaviors, cognitive processes, and emotions. It seems, however, that psychology gradually is acknowledging and accepting this new field of study, as more behavioral scholars have begun to research the field, growing numbers of articles in the area appear in psychology journals, and an increasing number of books related to this domain are being published. This change reflects not only the growing number of professionals who find interest in researching the new field but also the growing number of people – students and laypeople alike – who search for credible and professional answers in this relatively unknown and uninvestigated area of human psychology.

Adaptive Design Association

Adaptive Design Association: “The Adaptive Design Association works to ensure that children with disabilities get the customized equipment they need to participate fully in home, school, and community life.”

This place is cool. Visited it with Aleja, Andrew and Laura last march. Just got their news letter. I want to go down and take their course on making useful stuff… when I can.

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad

See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com

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