Always look on the bright side of life...

The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon. You can see it over millennia, over centuries, over decades and over years, although there seems to have been a tipping point at the onset of the Age of Reason in the Sixteenth Century. One sees it all over the world, although not homogeneously. It’s especially evident in the West, beginning with England and Holland around the time of the Enlightenment. Let me take you on a journey [of] several powers of ten from the millennium scale to the year scale to try to persuade you of this….

Steven Pinker, with an arresting claim, via.

Here, by the way, is the Biblical passage Pinker refers to in his talk:

And the children of Israel took all the women of Mid'i-an captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.
And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses and Ele-a'zar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
And Moses, and Ele-a'zar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Ba'laam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Pe'or,  and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Numbers 31, Verses 9-18

Go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant -- they're quite clear -- that we would create law based on the God of the bible and the ten commandments.

Sarah Palin, interviewed by Fox News

Frozen veg

First, he good news. We finally have some tiny florets of fractal broccoli - and I've got the pictures to prove it. The bad news - like the rest of the country, we've been getting severe frosts. I don't know how hardy Romanesco broccoli is, but I think we're about to find out.

This vegetable universe

Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.

William Blake

There are some broccoli plants growing in the garden. They're looking a bit tired and pigeon-pecked, so I'm not sure whether they'll actually produce any florets. If they do, though, they'll be something special, because they're not ordinary broccoli but Romanesco broccoli, like the one above. With its spiral florets made up of self-similar spiral patterns on a smaller scale, this striking vegetable looks like a 3D fractal pattern generated by computer.

Step forward Aleksandar Rodić, with a 3D computer rendition of Romanesco broccoli .

For more striking examples of natural forms with fractal or Fibonacci sequence patterns check this article out. I particularly liked the Mandelbulb-like sea urchin.

Gardening tip of the day

The Mandelbulb (narcissus mandelsonii) will grow almost anywhere and flourishes in dark shade as well as in the full sunlight of publicity. The flower emerges in many different shapes and colours that can bloom vigorously in many soil types. The scientific name of the Mandelbulb derives from the Greek legend of Narcissus, who looked into a pool, saw his reflection and fell in love with himself.

The Mandelbulb does best in rich soil and is most at home on the yachts of tycoons and oligarchs, although with a judicious application of interest-free loans, it will also do well in Europe or Westminster.

Being easy to grow, once established, the Mandelbulb will return year after year. Some regard the plant as an annoying weed, which is very difficult to control. The Mandelbulb’s foliage is highly invasive, smothering surrounding vegetation by casting a dark shadow.

Like all Narcissus varieties, the Mandelbulb is highly toxic, containing high levels of the alkaloid poison lycorine. The Mandelbulb can easily be confused with an onion, thereby leading to incidents of accidental poisoning.

Only kidding. In fact, the Mandelbulb is a 3D version of the Mandelbrot Set. To be precise it's not the true 3D version of the Mandelbrot set (something which was hitherto thought impossible), although it does suggest that a true 3D version is possible. Until then, click here for the images which are nonetheless pretty impressive. Originally found on Slashdot Science.