Fractal Bacteria
March 7, 2006 8:20 AM   Subscribe

These images remind us never to underestimate our opponent. -- The science behind the art (.pdf). Fractal art by way of bacteria growin' in a petri dish. A few more images here.
posted by Gator (7 comments total)
 
Also, if you sneak around in Professor Ben Jacob's pics directory, you can snag some gi-hugic wallpaper-sized versions of some of those images.

Much more fractal-y goodness previously seen on MetaFilter.
posted by Gator at 8:20 AM on March 7, 2006


Mmm. Fractally goodness.

The high quality images are exactly what I wanted to see.
Thanks.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:02 AM on March 7, 2006


This is doubleplusawesome, thanks! Ain't no fractal like a bacterial fractal as my old poppy used to say.

The whole site is fantastic, from the links page I found a real nice page of flash physics simulations, and the neuroscience section has introduced me to the notion of the holographic brain. And a cool quotes page to boot, including yet another amazing Einstein quote I hadn't heard,

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

I'm still a little nervous about the bacterial intelligence business, however, from their press release,

"Bacteria do not develop drug-resistant genes by Darwinian natural selection (gradual accumulation of random mutations) and do not compete for survival in the face of antibiotic attack. Rather, they use extensive chemical and genetic communication to cooperatively redesign genes, which are then packed in "off the shelf" resistant cassettes (plasmids) and distributed among peers. Bacteria communicate not only with bacteria of the same species, but also with relative and foreign species, creating a "World Wide Web" of genetic communication"

Wow.
posted by MetaMonkey at 9:32 AM on March 7, 2006


We are all bacteria.
posted by daq at 9:49 AM on March 7, 2006


I thought we were all viruses...
posted by WhipSmart at 9:54 AM on March 7, 2006


never to underestimate our opponent

I've made a seperate peace with the bacteria. I wish the rest of you luck against your new fractal overlords.
posted by CRM114 at 10:51 AM on March 7, 2006


From the first link...

Seasons Greetings
from the
Center for Theoretical Biological Physics


Heh. I've found my 2006 Christmas card.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:23 AM on March 7, 2006


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