February | 2013 | RobertLovesPi.net

Lifesaver

acrylic on canvas, 2010; 16′ x 20′ before slight cropping of this image

For more information about this molecule: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alprazolam

Twenty Interpenetrating, Rotating Equiangular Golden Hexagons

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Alternating sides of these hexagons have lengths in the Golden Ratio. I created this as a faceting of the rhombicosidodecahedron. It also has faces which are star pentagons and triangles, but those faces are hidden in this view.

(Created using software from www.software3d.com/stella.php)

Itaumiped, My Polyhedral Asteroid City

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Fanciful Polyhedral Asteroid City

I’d want to live in one of the twisting pentagonal towers. Any time I invent an imaginary planet (or planetoid, in this case), I always name it “Itaumiped.” That’s an anagram for “I made it up.”

(To learn more about the software used to create this .gif, please visit http://www.software3d.com/stella.php.)

Russian Impact Crater Found in Frozen Lake By Fishermen

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Russian Impact Crater Found in Frozen Lake By Fishermen

Can you imagine what it would be like to encounter such a thing as this crater?

Can you imagine what it is like to have every window in your whole region suddenly turned into a shower of broken glass, with the temperature at -15 degrees Celsius, as many thousands did?

Thus far, no deaths are known to have happened from this February 15 airburst, nor the 1908 Tunguska Event, the largest in recorded history. In that sense, the Russians lucked out. Twice.

[image source: screenshot posted to Wikipedia]

Zome Icosahedron Encasing a Rhombic Enneacontahedron

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Zome Icosahedron Encasing a Rhombic Enneacontahedron

Zome is a three-dimensional ball-and-stick geometrical modeling system based on the Golden Ratio. I have a large collection, and have used it for years, both as a teaching tool, and for my own investigations. Zome is available for sale at www.zometool.com.

Here is a close-up shot, so you can better see the interior of this figure:

Rotating Icosidodecahedral Shell

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Rotating Icosidodecahedral Shell

Website where you can try the software used to create this image: http://www.software3d.com/stella.php

I bought this program, Stella 4d, years ago, and have never regretted it. It is one of the most powerful tools available for doing work at the intersection of art and mathematics.