Brain Muffin: Food For Thought

Don Mangus, "Brain Muffin: Food for Thought," iPhone photo, 2015

Rainbow Dancer Cloud

After I took this iPhone sunset shot at my apartment complex, I was struck by how the top cloud triggered an associative memory of a similar shape of a cast Navajo Rainbow Dancer pin I bought a few years back. Here's a photo of said pin for comparison... 

Don Mangus, "Rainbow Dancer Cloud at Sunset, Dallas, Texas," iPhone photo, 2015

Sand cast sterling silver Navajo Rainbow Dancer pin

Hailing Ice Cubes at the Lakewood Starbucks

Don Mangus, "Hailing Ice Cubes at the Lakewood Starbucks, Dallas, Texas," iPhone photo, 2015

More Art Walkabout Photos

Don Mangus, Street Geometry, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Fall Light, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Poolside Patterns, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Poolside Patterns II, iPhone photo, 2014

Parking Lot Geometry

Don Mangus, Ring, I-phone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Bumper, I-phone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Feeder, I-phone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Ring II, i-Phone photograph, 2014

More Art Walkabout Photos From the L Streets

Don Mangus, Leaves and Shadows I, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Leaves and Shadows II, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Leaves and Shadows III, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Leaves and Shadows IV, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Leaves and Shadows V, iPhone photo, 2014

Close-Packing Networks: Toy Suction Cup Globe

Don Mangus, Toy Suction Cup Globe, iPhone photo, 2014

Close-packing of equal spheres

In geometry, close-packing of equal spheres is a dense arrangement of congruent spheres in an infinite, regular arrangement (or lattice). Carl Friedrich Gauss proved that the highest average density – that is, the greatest fraction of space occupied by spheres – that can be achieved by a regular lattice arrangement is 0.74048.

The same packing density can also be achieved by alternate stackings of the same close-packed planes of spheres, including structures that are aperiodic in the stacking direction. The Kepler conjecture states that this is the highest density that can be achieved by any arrangement of spheres, either regular or irregular. This conjecture is now widely considered proven by T. C. Hales.

Many crystal structures are based on a close-packing of a single kind of atom, or a close-packing of large ions with smaller ions filling the spaces between them. The cubic and hexagonal arrangements are very close to one another in energy, and it may be difficult to predict which form will be preferred from first principles.

Art Walkabout: The Long Shadows of Morn

Don Mangus, Long Shadows of Morn I, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Long Shadows of Morn II, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Long Shadows of Morn III, iPhone photo, 2014

Don Mangus, Long Shadows of Morn IV, iPhone photo, 2014