#day6script

What do snowflakes and cell phones have in common?

Snowflakes have intricate detail no matter how closely you look. In mathematics, such shapes are called fractals.

Fractals are never-ending patterns that on any scale, on any level of zoom, look roughly the same. Computer scientists can program these infinite patterns by repeating an often simple mathematical process over and over.

To model a snowflake, for example, start by drawing an equilateral triangle. Divide each side into three equal parts and build another equilateral triangle on top of each side.

Take out the middle, and repeat the process, this time with 1, 2, 3, 4 times 3, which is 12 sides. Eventually, the shape will look something like this:

This curve is called in mathematics a Koch Snowflake. It is a fractal because, if you zoom in, you’ll get this same pattern (show pattern) again and again.

The Koch fractal is useful not only for modeling snowflakes.

In 1990’s, a radio astronomer named Nathan Cohen used the Koch snowflake to revolutionize wireless communications.

At the time, Cohen was having troubles with his landlord. The man wouldn’t let him put a radio antenna on the roof! So, Cohen decided to make a more compact, fractal radio antenna instead (show wire bent as Koch snowflake)

The landlord didn’t notice it, and it worked better than the ones before!

Working further, Cohen designed a new version, this time using a fractal called “the Menger Sponge” (build a tangible model of the Sponge, and show it). The fractal’s infinite “sponginess” allowed the antennae to let through multiple different signals.

(soapy sponge used as prop; maybe host is in shower?)

The Menger Sponge is not really the sponge you’d be scrubbing your back with, but you can still think of it kind of like that. Imagine both water and soap getting through your sponge’s holes, except the water is Wi Fi and the soap is, say, Bluetooth.

The fractal shape allows the antenna to operate well at many different frequencies simultaneously. Before Cohen’s invention, antennas had to be "cut" for one necessary frequency. That was the only frequency they could operate at.

So, without Cohen’s “sponge,” your cell phone would have to look something like a hedgehog to receive different signals, including the radio signal that allows you to hear your friends when they call (illustrate: phone with several antennas glued on). As Cohen later proved, only fractal shapes could work with such a wide range of frequencies.

Today, millions of wireless communication devices, such as laptops and barcode scanners, also use Cohen’s fractal antenna.

Cohen’s genius invention, however, was not the first application of fractals in the world. Turns out, nature has been doing it the whole time!

Natural selection has allowed it to create the most efficient systems and organisms, most of which (if not all) evolved to a fractal shape.

The spiral fractal, for example, is present in seashells, broccoli, and hurricanes.

So, many natural systems previously thought off-limits to mathematicians were suddenly explained in terms of fractals. The fractal tree for example, is relatively easy to program, and allows mathematicians to study anything from river systems to blood vessels and lightning bolts.

Thus, fractals allow us to learn nature’s best practices, and then apply them to solve real world problems. Much like Cohen’s antenna revolutionized telecommunications, other fractal research is changing fields of medicine, weather prediction, and many more. Here at MIT (move camera from host and Charles river to MIT dome right across) and everywhere in the world.

If I were to go out for a run now, dressed like this, you’d probably call me nuts right? Because I wouldn’t be able to withstand the cold, and likely die, of hypothermia.

However, in 2009 Wim Hof, a Dutch man, completed a full marathon in temperatures close to  dressed in nothing but his shorts. Where untrained individuals probably would die, when the body is too cold for normal metabolism and body function. Wim Hof, aptly nicknamed “Iceman”, is able to thrive in the cold. Now what makes “Iceman” able to survive whilst others can’t?

To study Wim Hof, researchers in Netherlands exposed Iceman to extreme temperatures in an ice bath for 1 hour and 44 minutes. Normally, a subject’s core body temperature would plummet below , causing hypothermia to kick in. However, while Wim Hof’s skin temperatures dropped by  to , which is very cold, but his core temperature stayed surprisingly warm. It merely dropped  to . The researchers couldn’t explain exactly what had happened.

One reason could be that Wim Hof is a genetic outlier. With greater ability to regulate his body temperature, producing more heat through higher metabolism. In a separate study, individuals with ancestors that lived in cold climates were found to have mitochondria that generated more heat and less chemical energy.[1] This enabled them to better survive the cold. Wim Hof is from the Netherlands, so maybe it’s his genetic ancestry that saves him? Hmm. But as a one of a kind “Iceman”, it doesn’t seem that genetics itself is enough.

Another possible reason is his physical makeup. With a large stocky body and shorter limbs, one has less surface area contacting the cold.[2] This results in less heat loss to the environment, hence individuals can better preserve vital heat. However, Wim Hof doesn’t have a usually large body or shorter limbs, at least not from the pictures I see. For all we know, he has normal proportions as anyone else. We could attribute increased levels of fat as more insulation to heat, however Wim Hof doesn’t have more fat than anyone else either. So really, after all this, what gives?

Wim Hof practices “g-tummo”, a Tibetan form of breathing, which enables him to double his metabolism. Effectively producing enough heat to keep his core temperatures warm. Well you might tempted to believe that this is wishy-washy non sciency-ish. However, studies conducted at NUS have confirmed that g-tummo is able to increase core body temperature.[3] The study was conducted on Western participants, all of whom had no prior knowledge of the technique no less.

To quote Wim Hof, “We have perfect mechanisms in our bodies, but we intervened with nature when we started wearing clothes. We need to reawaken those mechanisms.” In fact, he hopes to teach others the ability to harness the mind, enabling it to control areas of the body we never thought we could. Other than combatting cold, Wim Hof has shown control over his immune system. And with his techniques, trained individuals have been able to consciously activate innate immune responses.[4] Now if we were to fully understand his methods and how it works, who knows what doors it could open in our resistance to cold/ diseases?

(Yea, i think its still too wordy.

I'll add in the cutscenes/ camera angles/ go through the writing again tmr.)

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/09/us/ice-age-ancestry-may-keep-body-warmer-and-healthier.html

[2] http://anthro.palomar.edu/adapt/adapt_2.htm

[3] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408084858.htm