8 ms·

Burning Ship Fractal

252 points by dedalus 10y ago

iverjo 10y ago
Fractals can be drawn by surprisingly small amounts of code. For example, this mandelbrot fractal is implemented in 122 characters of JavaScript: https://www.dwitter.net/d/123 https://www.dwitter.net/d/123 I wouldn't be surprised if the burning ship fractal could be coded on dwitter (i.e. with 140 characters or less) as well
- quarterto 10y ago
  Just need to add a Math.abs: https://www.dwitter.net/d/457 https://www.dwitter.net/d/457
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - vog 10y ago
    Nice, but you don't need Math.abs to stay within the 140 chars limit: t?i++:i=0;for(j=1080;j--;){a=b=0;k=35;for(;k--&&a*a+b*b<4;)c=a*a-b*b+i/540-2,b=2*(a*b<0?-a*b:a*b)+j/540-1,a=c;x.fillRect(i,j,1,S(k/9))}
- AceJohnny2 10y ago
  When working on an SoC over 5 years ago, we'd have it display the company logo on screen upon boot. While not necessary for the test, it was really useful to see if the system reached that boot stage. As an afternoon exercise, I wrote a Mandelbrot draw function (my first fractal display code!). Then I realized it was both faster and used less code and runtime memory than the image display stuff, so I replaced it in my environment. Other people were amused by it, so it went in public repository. A couple weeks later, someone removed it to reinstate the image display. I guess having the company logo for internal-only code was more important to someone :( I don't work there anymore.
  - userbinator 10y ago
    Even better if your company's logo is a fractal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Megatrends_Logo.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Megatrends_Logo.... If I remember correctly, early AMIBIOS did generate that logo procedurally using a short piece of code.
jawarner 10y ago
I'm always fascinated by how simple functions like this generate complex behavior when iterated.
- wyager 10y ago
  I agree. It's very strange that extremely simple, very fundamental functions lead to such stochastic-looking nonsymnetric behavior. Where does all that "entropy" come from? It's certainly not hidden in any big numbers in the fractal definition.
  - pfortuny 10y ago
    It comes from the aperiodic structure of real numbers (that is a weird and wrong expression but I cannot find a better way to explain it). Nonrational real numbers are inherently chaotic as seen from the inside (even rational numbers might be seen as such). Real numbers are weird. Totally. Also the fact that you are defining something depending on convergence makes it even weirder, as limits do not tend to commute with anything unless smooth conditions take place. And for these fractals, there is no smoothness near the "border".
    - andrewflnr 10y ago
      While "real" numbers are indeed weird, I don't think that's the real explanation here. There are lots of small programs with complex output that have nothing to do with real numbers. If someone gave you one of these programs without telling you what it was for, real numbers would at best be a useful abstraction (bear in mind that there are no actual "real numbers" here, only finite bit-strings). But it might turn out to be the equivalent of a stream cipher, instead. That would, if done correctly, have even more apparent entropy than your typical fractal, which at least has some higher-level structure. In my view, the real source of complexity is the fact that the algorithm can use arbitrary iterations to magnify small differences. It's the unpredictable nature of computing machines, not real numbers. The nature of real numbers is only a guide to developing and explaining that underlying complexity.
hahamrfunnyguy 10y ago
....There's a fractal for that!
carlbarrdahl 10y ago
7 minute zoom of the fractal. Incredible level of detail and that final mirrored inverted fractal at 6'38 took me by surprise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9yNFmb2FE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9yNFmb2FE Are there any good fractal explorers in VR?
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  I'm sure they picked the point they're zooming in on intentionally, but I thought it was interesting when it started being radially symmetrical. I wonder how they chose the point; trial and error, or was there some mathematical way of guaranteeing that there is something "interesting" at that point?
  - Sharlin 10y ago
    As long as you keep to the "edge" of the set, I think you're guaranteed to find interesting things wherever you go. I presume this zoom was guided, the exact zoom position manually adjusted every once in a while based on what comes up.
  - godd2 10y ago
    Or they recorded it zooming out, and reversed the recording.
    - pavel_lishin 10y ago
      But they still had to find an interesting point from which to zoom out, right?
      - failrate 10y ago
        Yes, but I imagine fractal heads are like us CA heads, spending hours toying and exploring the virtual spaces we've built.
        pavel_lishin 10y ago
moridin 10y ago
Anyone else thing that the Julia set diagram of this looks like a Nazca-line Image? Imagine you reverse engineered the Nazca Images on the ground and they described advanced Mathematics...Sci-Fi short story Idea there for sure :D
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  So a bunch of archaeologists are studying some markings found on the stones in a recent dig, when a computer nerd pops in and says, "hey, this looks familiar; I've played with those the other day". Everyone is stunned as she pulls out her laptop and shows them that little fractal demo she wrote...
rhubarbquid 10y ago
I started working on a web based renderer for the burning ship fractal a little while ago. It's far from perfect, I still consider it a WIP, but it works well enough to play around with: http://stevenmcdonald.github.io/fractals/burning_ship/ http://stevenmcdonald.github.io/fractals/burning_ship/
SudoNhim 10y ago
Hah. I would guess that this made its way here because someone posted one on ShaderToy recently. See: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/XtKGDD https://www.shadertoy.com/view/XtKGDD
based2 10y ago
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3379 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3379 http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=4057 http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=vie...
booleandilemma 10y ago
Looks like a pareidolia fractal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia
anotheryou 10y ago
Hehe, by the guy who sued CERN, because of the possibility of a black hole emerging. (he didn't think it was likely, but not unlikely enough to him)
xorange 10y ago
here's a Google-maps style fractal explorer that does the Burning Ship fractal and others http://atleebrink.com/julia.html http://atleebrink.com/julia.html
vog 10y ago
I love the reference to the 1k demo "JenterErForetrukket". Here is its link on Pouet: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54663 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54663 Unfortunately, that demo is not that portable, and I was unable to find a video of it.

252 points by dedalus 10y ago

Fractals can be drawn by surprisingly small amounts of code. For example, this mandelbrot fractal is implemented in 122 characters of JavaScript: https://www.dwitter.net/d/123 https://www.dwitter.net/d/123 I wouldn't be surprised if the burning ship fractal could be coded on dwitter (i.e. with 140 characters or less) as well

quarterto 10y ago
Just need to add a Math.abs: https://www.dwitter.net/d/457 https://www.dwitter.net/d/457
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- vog 10y ago
  Nice, but you don't need Math.abs to stay within the 140 chars limit: t?i++:i=0;for(j=1080;j--;){a=b=0;k=35;for(;k--&&a*a+b*b<4;)c=a*a-b*b+i/540-2,b=2*(a*b<0?-a*b:a*b)+j/540-1,a=c;x.fillRect(i,j,1,S(k/9))}
AceJohnny2 10y ago
When working on an SoC over 5 years ago, we'd have it display the company logo on screen upon boot. While not necessary for the test, it was really useful to see if the system reached that boot stage. As an afternoon exercise, I wrote a Mandelbrot draw function (my first fractal display code!). Then I realized it was both faster and used less code and runtime memory than the image display stuff, so I replaced it in my environment. Other people were amused by it, so it went in public repository. A couple weeks later, someone removed it to reinstate the image display. I guess having the company logo for internal-only code was more important to someone :( I don't work there anymore.
- userbinator 10y ago
  Even better if your company's logo is a fractal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Megatrends_Logo.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Megatrends_Logo.... If I remember correctly, early AMIBIOS did generate that logo procedurally using a short piece of code.

jawarner 10y ago

I'm always fascinated by how simple functions like this generate complex behavior when iterated.

wyager 10y ago
I agree. It's very strange that extremely simple, very fundamental functions lead to such stochastic-looking nonsymnetric behavior. Where does all that "entropy" come from? It's certainly not hidden in any big numbers in the fractal definition.
- pfortuny 10y ago
  It comes from the aperiodic structure of real numbers (that is a weird and wrong expression but I cannot find a better way to explain it). Nonrational real numbers are inherently chaotic as seen from the inside (even rational numbers might be seen as such). Real numbers are weird. Totally. Also the fact that you are defining something depending on convergence makes it even weirder, as limits do not tend to commute with anything unless smooth conditions take place. And for these fractals, there is no smoothness near the "border".
  - andrewflnr 10y ago
    While "real" numbers are indeed weird, I don't think that's the real explanation here. There are lots of small programs with complex output that have nothing to do with real numbers. If someone gave you one of these programs without telling you what it was for, real numbers would at best be a useful abstraction (bear in mind that there are no actual "real numbers" here, only finite bit-strings). But it might turn out to be the equivalent of a stream cipher, instead. That would, if done correctly, have even more apparent entropy than your typical fractal, which at least has some higher-level structure. In my view, the real source of complexity is the fact that the algorithm can use arbitrary iterations to magnify small differences. It's the unpredictable nature of computing machines, not real numbers. The nature of real numbers is only a guide to developing and explaining that underlying complexity.

hahamrfunnyguy 10y ago

....There's a fractal for that!

carlbarrdahl 10y ago

7 minute zoom of the fractal. Incredible level of detail and that final mirrored inverted fractal at 6'38 took me by surprise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9yNFmb2FE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9yNFmb2FE Are there any good fractal explorers in VR?

pavel_lishin 10y ago
I'm sure they picked the point they're zooming in on intentionally, but I thought it was interesting when it started being radially symmetrical. I wonder how they chose the point; trial and error, or was there some mathematical way of guaranteeing that there is something "interesting" at that point?
- Sharlin 10y ago
  As long as you keep to the "edge" of the set, I think you're guaranteed to find interesting things wherever you go. I presume this zoom was guided, the exact zoom position manually adjusted every once in a while based on what comes up.
- godd2 10y ago
  Or they recorded it zooming out, and reversed the recording.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    But they still had to find an interesting point from which to zoom out, right?
    - failrate 10y ago
      Yes, but I imagine fractal heads are like us CA heads, spending hours toying and exploring the virtual spaces we've built.
      - pavel_lishin 10y ago

moridin 10y ago

Anyone else thing that the Julia set diagram of this looks like a Nazca-line Image? Imagine you reverse engineered the Nazca Images on the ground and they described advanced Mathematics...Sci-Fi short story Idea there for sure :D

TeMPOraL 10y ago
So a bunch of archaeologists are studying some markings found on the stones in a recent dig, when a computer nerd pops in and says, "hey, this looks familiar; I've played with those the other day". Everyone is stunned as she pulls out her laptop and shows them that little fractal demo she wrote...

rhubarbquid 10y ago

I started working on a web based renderer for the burning ship fractal a little while ago. It's far from perfect, I still consider it a WIP, but it works well enough to play around with: http://stevenmcdonald.github.io/fractals/burning_ship/ http://stevenmcdonald.github.io/fractals/burning_ship/

SudoNhim 10y ago

Hah. I would guess that this made its way here because someone posted one on ShaderToy recently. See: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/XtKGDD https://www.shadertoy.com/view/XtKGDD

based2 10y ago

http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3379 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3379 http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=4057 http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=vie...

booleandilemma 10y ago

Looks like a pareidolia fractal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

anotheryou 10y ago

Hehe, by the guy who sued CERN, because of the possibility of a black hole emerging. (he didn't think it was likely, but not unlikely enough to him)

xorange 10y ago

here's a Google-maps style fractal explorer that does the Burning Ship fractal and others http://atleebrink.com/julia.html http://atleebrink.com/julia.html

vog 10y ago

I love the reference to the 1k demo "JenterErForetrukket". Here is its link on Pouet: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54663 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54663 Unfortunately, that demo is not that portable, and I was unable to find a video of it.