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Fractal cutlery that fringes off into hairy infinity

Cory Doctorow at 7:58 pm Mon, Oct 1, 2012

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On the FractalForums message boards, a user called LhoghoNurbs has posted this wonderful contest-entry for a notional set of fractal cutlery. In a subsequent post, LhoghoNurbs explains that all the image manipulation was done in the GIMP, without any 3D modelling software. LhoghoNurbs wants a set of these, and so do I.

The set includes four pieces:

Cantor fork :: now you can pin a single kiwi seed. Twice in a row.

Recursive spoon :: it will never let you spill a drop of soup. Ever.

Koch knife :: to delicately cut hair-thin slices out of an egg. A raw egg.

The Infinity Set :: the set includes itself. As a subset.

Every piece of the set is inscribed with our Julia logo and our motto "The Infinities are Possible". Limited quantities. Unlimited price. The kiwi, the drop of soup and the egg are not included in the box, but could be ordered separately.

We are proudly presenting our latest kitchenware set featuring a design distilled for centuries by moulders all over the world; and based on the latest scientific breakthroughs. (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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  • http://doran.pacifist.net/ Doran

    I like the fork. The knife would be okay if it were much less rough. The spoon is just silly.

    • Boundegar

      I wish the fork was truly fractal, all the way down to the molecular level.  The tips would be a grey blur, but so wickedly sharp it would shred your lips and tongue.  For Science!

      • silkox

         And you could stick it to the ceiling like gecko feet!

  • http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/ Jessica

    I think these would go nicely with a set of my reaction diffusion simulation dish ware video:  https://vimeo.com/13927597
    http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/?tag=reaction-diffusion

  • http://www.facebook.com/anastasio.miras Anastasio Miras

    That butter knife would be terrible for spreading butter conventionally (as opposed to fractally).

  • Antinous / Moderator

    The knife looks like trefoil tracery.

  • http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

    You just know this is someone’s nightmare come to life.

  • Nadreck

    I want a Seirpinski juicer.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/TF2K4NDACF4HPD7V5UGLZN33MA John

      When do these become available on Shapeways?

  • http://twitter.com/SarcasticRover SarcasticRover

    Why the heck is this called “The Infinity Set” and NOT “The Mandelbrot Set”?

  • Kirby_G

    It’s like William Gibson’s ceramic fractal knife http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=143

    • http://scavenger-ethic.blogspot.com/ scav

      Also, I think there’s a blade like that described in Snow Crash (1992). But I may be mis-remembering. Some Neal Stephenson novel anyway. It’s obviously an idea whose time has come.  I want one.

      • Michael Rosefield

        You’re thinking of The Diamond Age, I think; there’s a nano-mechanical chainsaw, with a molecular, self-propelled edge. That was a pretty damned good moment in the book :D

        • Graham Fawcett

          It’s also in Snow Crash — it’s the glass knife that the Aleut guy made. He used it to cut somone in half, lengthwise, among other things. [OK, strictly not a fractal knife, but a knife with a molecularly-sharp edge.]

          • joshuakarthik

            Molecularly sharp edge? Don’t forget “Death” from the Discworld series. Terry Pratchett has him wielding a blade that’s sharp at a molecular level.

    • http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael

      What about the super-sharp ceramic knives in Islands in the Net? They weren’t fractal — but with that sort of sharpness, cheapness, and durability — who cares?!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Holmen/562023961 Robert Holmén

    I think you’ll need dental floss to clean in between the layers of that spoon.

    • http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan

      Yeah. It’s like the infinity hotel for bacteria.

      • Glen Able

        Well, on the microscopic scale, the utensils should have the same pattern seen in the photo, so it’s hard to imagine microbes finding a comfortable place to sit.

        Although probably the small print on the box says “The Infinity Set (for small values of infinity, approximately 4)”.

        • http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan

          I’m relieved that Raymond Babbitt will still be able to instantly count any dropped accompanying toothpicks. Dodged a bullet there.

      • http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael

         ”antibacterial coating”

  • tubacat

    Brilliant!  Want! (and to Sarcastic Rover, the “Mandelbrot Set” would be a clever name, but really not appropriate for the shapes. On the other hand, you could maybe start with a Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake and elaborate something that resembles the Mandelbrot Set. Hmmmm…..)

    • http://scavenger-ethic.blogspot.com/ scav

      It would be entirely appropriate, because it was Benoît Mandelbrot who coined the term “fractal”.

    • http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

      The “Julia Set” in the logo evokes Julia Child.

  • http://twitter.com/the_turtle The Turtle 

    I ain’t stickin’ them thangs in mah mouth…

  • bzishi

    I like it because I won’t have the memorize the how to set the table. I can instead order the cutlery by its fractal dimension.

  • IndexMe

    Yikes! An infinitely sharp thing like a fractal fork is the last thing I want in my mouth!

  • Graham Fawcett

    They should have included a few close-up shots of those edges! 

    (lame fractal joke)

    • .

      Zoom…..

  • http://www.disoriented.net/ angusm

    The perfect thing for eating romanesco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Amorette-Allison/1163340223 Amorette Allison

    The perfect gift for an imaginary wedding!

  • Dave Killion

    Yo Dawg, I herd you liked spoons…

    /had to

  • Christian Kleinhuis

    here is a youtube review of the image, it won:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bTYCn6uqkm0#t=646s