They say no two procedurally generated snowflakes are alike.

December 30, 2021 7:44 PM

Click to make a snowflake.
posted by AlSweigart (25 comments total)

These are beautiful and I'm having a great time making new snowflakes. Thanks for this.
posted by medusa at 8:17 PM on December 30, 2021 [3 favorites]

I'm avoiding the obvious political joke (and hopefully dissuading it by mentioning it in passing), and enjoyed making a dozen or so snowflakes. And I shared it with friends! A lovely simple toy that I enjoyed. Thanks!
posted by hippybear at 8:25 PM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

If I am not mistaken, this was by Mefi's own potch.
posted by jjray at 8:25 PM on December 30, 2021 [5 favorites]

When you get a big one it has a sort of Conway’s Game of Life feel as it grows
posted by not_the_water at 8:26 PM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

There’s something rather wonderful about clicking new digital snowflakes into existence while waiting for the traditional kind to arrive this weekend.
posted by mochapickle at 8:34 PM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

Maybe you're summoning them into existence with each click! You'll have to get a magnifying glass and examine a bunch of them to find out!

(really, black construction paper is your friend for this activity)
posted by hippybear at 8:36 PM on December 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

NFT snowflakes in 5 .. 4 .. 3 ..

'Stolen' NFT snowflakes in .....
posted by mbo at 12:19 AM on December 31, 2021 [7 favorites]

I also quite like Andrew Taylor's cellular automata snowflake generator (near the bottom of the page), which also discusses some of the physics and mathematics of why snowflakes grow the way they do.

It doesn't create snowflakes that are consistently as pretty as the ones in the FPP though.
posted by a car full of lions at 1:23 AM on December 31, 2021 [6 favorites]

No two (leaves/clouds/turds) are alike either, but Big Snowflake has the marketing budget and the high-powered lobbyists).
posted by kersplunk at 3:36 AM on December 31, 2021 [3 favorites]

"No two snowflakes are exactly alike, but they have a lot in common, and get on well in social situations."
posted by bouvin at 4:43 AM on December 31, 2021 [5 favorites]

This is enjoyable and peaceful and just what I need today.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:17 AM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

kersplunk - how dare you add an unbalanced parenthesis to what would otherwise be the Bob Ross and the purring kitten of threads. Shame!)
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 5:38 AM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you'd like to learn how to make yourself some hexagonal pretties, there are 3 fun coding challenge vids on snowflakes on the Coding Train channel, presented by the ever-festively-upbeat Daniel Shiffman.
posted by protorp at 6:54 AM on December 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

The Snowflake Mystery. Veritasium interviews the snowflake expert to explain how they form, and all things snowflake.
posted by Brian B. at 7:44 AM on December 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

I am glad I clicked on this, it was much better than I expected. Thanks, and I hope you all have a happy new year.
posted by Elmore at 7:48 AM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Implemented with Lindenmayer systems, a much loved generative grammar going back to 1968. They're often used to model tree growth: here's an example.

Also totally unrelated to this lovely pure project, at least for now: Artists Say Plagiarized NFTs Are Plaguing Their Community.
posted by Nelson at 7:52 AM on December 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

Lovely! It's unseasonably warm in southwestern Virginia today so this is the perfect accompaniment to my morning coffee.
posted by introp at 8:16 AM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is good; thanks.
posted by theora55 at 9:22 AM on December 31, 2021

I think it says something about my state of mind that with every click I think "I'VE RUINED ANOTHER ONE, NO ONE WILL EVER SEE THIS BEAUTY AGAIN YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HUMAN KIND LAYING WASTE TO ALL THAT IS GOOD"
posted by stray at 9:50 AM on December 31, 2021 [5 favorites]

Now generate Icelandic magical staves!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:12 AM on December 31, 2021

Does anyone else's brain demand that they see these as three dimensional, or is it just mine?
posted by mollweide at 10:24 AM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Mine doesn't, and I think it's cool that yours does!
posted by biogeo at 11:44 AM on December 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

Mine is not inclined to make demands, but it's politely enquiring whether it would be possible.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:31 PM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

The funny thing is that I have amblyopia so I really don't have binocular stereo vision. However, I see the 3 main lines in most of the snowflakes as XYZ axes, and the lines that come off them appear as right angles to the axes to me. Brains are weird.
posted by mollweide at 7:03 PM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Now that you've shown me I can see it! It's like an isometric projection. My brain doesn't do it automatically but I can interpret it that way.
posted by biogeo at 12:36 AM on January 1, 2022 [1 favorite]