Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Possible or Impossible?



This is probably one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. It is modeled after MC Escher's Waterfall painting, which is an optical illusion about water flowing against gravity.  MC Escher is a well known artist in the mathematical community for his artwork depicting ideas of infinity as well as patterns, fractals and tessellations. 

But what you should be asking: "Is this actually possible?"  The mathematician in me wants to say no, but the video is pretty convincing.  So immediately I turned to my good friend, Google, and saw what this thing really looks like.  If you are curious, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwm-yGCjOjU&feature=related or this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpcIIa2hKRo&feature=related

I might bring in this video to a classroom at a higher level of math to explore the idea of infinity.  It would definitely be a good conversation starter on a concept that is difficult for students to grasp.  Maybe it is an illusion, but it is definitely interesting.

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