3D Mandelbrot renders
This bizarre image over at skytopia is a 3D rendering of the commonly seen 2D fractal pattern. The initial idea was initially though about 20 years ago by science fiction writer Randy Rucker. Called the Mandlebulb it was sort of forgotten about until recently. With modern computers rendering these shots is considerably easier. Have a look and scroll through the images. The images are quite beautiful – carry on to page 2. Also linked is this rather stunning video by Rena Jones:
Kris Northern - Open Me Slowly 3D Fractal Video
Thanks to David Greenley for the link.
The mystery of the rolling stones
Amid the eerie silence and the intense 50C heat of California’s Death Valley these roaming rocks appear to patrol the desert. The rocks, some as heavy as 250lbs, move unaided in bizarre straight line patterns across the ultra-flat surface of the valley. Scientists believe the pebbly phenomenon is caused by a melting-pot of specific weather conditions.
Studies suggest a combination of 90mph winds, ice formations at night and thin layers of wet clay on the surface of the desert all combine to push them along. Photographer Mike Byrne, 40, has spent years documenting the mysterious movements of the stones.
As his pictures show these real-life rolling stones leave trails across the sand in places almost untouched by man. He said: “Some of these rocks are as heavy as a person, it is really is strange to imagine them gliding across the desert like this.
“They must be the original real-life rolling stones, they just keep moving through the sand and I don’t think anyone has really 100 per cent worked it out yet.”
Men often treat their friends better than women do
Who’s more “sociable,” men or women? Common sense says it’s women, right? And many research studies back this impression up: Women are more interpersonal, more connected, more interdependent than men. Women are more likely to share intimate information with each other than men. But is that really the whole story?
There is also research suggesting that men have larger social networks than women do, and that male-male friendships last longer than female-female ones.
A team led by Joyce Benenson conducted a set of three studies that may shed some light on the question. In their first study, they identified 30 male and 30 female undergraduates at a small, Northeastern U.S. college. Half of each group was specifically recruited because they said they had some kind of conflict with their roommate. The other half said they were planning on living with their roommate for the rest of the school year. Each student was asked to rate their satisfaction with their roommate on a scale of 1 to 5. A score of 4 or 5 was defined by the researchers as “satisfied.” So were there gender differences? Here are the results:
For he full article on this research visit Cognitive Daily
Gaddafi’s Muslim conversion parties for attractive women only
ROME (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Rome for a U.N. food summit, spent several hours in the company of 200 Italian women recruited by an agency and tried to convert them to Islam, Italian media reported on Monday.
“Seeking 500 attractive girls between 18 and 35 years old, at least 1.70 meters (5 foot, 7 inches) tall, well-dressed but not in mini-skirts or low cut dresses,” read the ad by the Hostessweb agency and quoted in Italy’s Corriere dell Sera newspaper in its story.
Full story at Reuters
3D Magic Spectacular Photos
Just to let you all know we have added a few photos to the gallery from the filming of the 3D Magic Spectacular.
Click here to visit the Gallery
Enjoy 
Bad Decisions May Be Contagious
Like the flu, a person’s emotional state can be contagious. Watch someone cry, and you’ll likely feel sad; think about the elderly, and you’ll tend to walk slower. Now a study suggests that we can also catch someone else’s irrational thought processes.
Anyone who’s lost money on a fixer-upper may have succumbed to a classic economic fallacy known as “sunk costs.” You make a bad investment in a home that’s never going to sell for more than you put in to it, yet you want to justify your investment by continuing to throw money into renovations. One way to avoid this hole is to get advice from someone who has no self-interest in the project. But is the outsider still somehow susceptible to your mindset?
Science Now (thanks, KirstyJ)
Teacher Claims Fingerprinting is “Mark of the Beast”
A 22-year veteran kindergarten teacher in the Texas Bible Belt could lose her job for refusing, on religious grounds, to give fingerprints under a state law requiring them.
The evangelical Christian, Pam McLaurin, is fighting a looming suspension, claiming that fingerprinting amounts to the “Mark of the Beast,” and hence is a violation of her First Amendment right to practice her religion. Her case is similar to a lawsuit by a group of Michigan farmers, some of them Amish, challenging rules requiring the tagging of livestock with RFID chips, saying the devices are also the devil’s mark.
Wired (thanks, Fosca)
US Judge Bans Christian Car Number Plates
The southern state’s legislature had already approved the licence plate, but Cameron Currie, the district judge, said the plate was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment, which requires the separation of church and state.
“Such a law amounts to a state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular,” Ms Currie wrote.
Her ruling also singled out Lt Gov Andre Bauer, who had pushed the bill approving the license plates through the state legislature. Christian advocates tried to get the same license plate approved in Florida, but the bill did not pass that state’s lawmaking body.
Telegraph (thanks, Eliza)
Villagers Confine Rare Turtle, Say It Is God
BHUBANESWAR, India – Hundreds of poor Hindu villagers in eastern India have refused to hand over a rare turtle to authorities, saying it is an incarnation of God, officials said on Tuesday. Villagers chanting hymns and carrying garlands, bowls of rice and fruits are pouring in from remote villages to a temple in Kendrapara, a coastal district in eastern Orissa state.
Policemen have struggled to control the gathering and have failed to persuade the villagers to give up the sea turtle.
“We have asked the villagers to hand it over as it is illegal to confine a turtle, but they are refusing,” said P.K. Behera, a senior government wildlife official.
The turtle is protected in India and anyone found keeping one without permission can be jailed for a year or more and fined. But adamant villagers have refused to give up the reptile, saying the turtle bears holy symbols on its back and is an incarnation of Lord Jagannath, a popular Hindu deity.
“Lord Jagannath has visited our village in the form of a turtle. We will not allow anybody to take the turtle away,” said Ramesh Mishra, a priest of the temple.
Via STV (thanks, Eliza)
Submit your stuff to the Derren Brown Blog
Many of you send in your suggestions via email, we are truly grateful and Thank You All as it helps our little group stay up to date with the torrent of information that’s out there on the interwebs. If you wish to supply us with links from serious issues, books you’ve read, weird and whacky stories to interesting new theories or maybe ideas for stuff you’d like to see – please email them through to us here.
We cannot always reply when it gets busy so I thank you all now. Alternatively you can submit things to us by using @phillisdorris on twitter (and @abeodbart for questions) – where we take your submissions and now feed out the more bizzare things that are too strange, too rude or just too silly to blog about.
Thanks all – Enigma Crew.
