As reported on The Verge.
By Aaron Souppouris
IBM has created a site that will turn any Tumblr into a series of fractal images. Why? 38 years ago, one of its mathematicians, Benoit Mandelbrot, discovered that nature’s repetitive, complex patterns are based on simple math. Mandlebrot called these hidden patterns “fractals,” and in 1978 he and others began to visualize the formulas behind them.
Fractal imagery is typified by elaborate boundaries that are recursive; when magnified, what previously looked like a point is actually the same shape again, and again, in an infinite loop. Some 35 years after they were first visualized, fractals, and in particular the Mandelbrot set that takes its name from the mathematician, are now well-known and studied across the world.
To celebrate Mandelbrot’s work, IBM has created what it called a “Fractal Fest.” It’s published a number of fractals, GIFs, facts, and an interview with Mandelbrot filmed just weeks before he died on IBMblr.tumblr.com. It’s also created the aforementioned fractal generator that will “fractalize” any Tumblr. We tried it out on our official Tumblrand were surprised at how well it works. Many of the images are interactive and can be shifted and modified by hovering your mouse of the image. It’s a lot of fun, and works on any Tumblr with images. Here are some of the results from both our and IBM’s Tumblrs:
You can create your own fractal Tumblr from any site; just go to the IBMblr Fractalizerand type in a URL.