heesch’s problem (13. 083)

Ranging from zero (in the case of the circle) and infinity for squares—with seemingly few values in between—in the study of tessellations (see previously here, here and here) a Heesch number pertaining to a geometric shape is the maximum number of layers of identical copies of the same figure will bear with no gaps or overlaps. Named for the geometer and mathematician Heinrich Heesch, who also made significant contributions to the field of tiling patterns and then unproven for colour theorem (the first mathematical proof by a computer) for mapping boundaries, he noticed that a one sort of planar shape, a square fused with a triangle would only accommodate one extra layer, as illustrated with these spandrels (from an architectural space between the top of arch and the ceiling) term referring to the teardrop arranged by contemporary Walther Lietzmann, and posed it as a general puzzle. Beyond the core, one can only form a signal corona of identical shapes—and whilst blocky polyominoes and tetrominoes seem to hold limitless promise at first glance, there still seems to be a limiting factor with no more than six deep.

unwörter des jahres (13. 082)

The jury that selects the German Un-Word of the Year (see below) went with one of the candidates from Deutschland’s Word of the Year in Sondervermögen, meaning special assets and sparking a lot of political debate but whose nuance isn’t immediately apparent and is intentionally misleading or euphemistic language used for investment and public debt. Runners up include the metaphoric Zustrombegrenzungsgesetz, the “inflow limitation act” using terminology associated with low-flow shower heads and the like to address immigration concerns and Umsiedlung for the “resettlement” of Palestinians advocated by Israel and the US.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Unwort of the Year (with synchronopticæ), a non-alcoholic glossary, the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year plus assorted links worth revisiting

twelve years ago: a time cafe plus terms for family members

thirteen years ago: a trillion dollar coin 

fourteen years ago: monitoring social media 

fifteen years ago: winter flooding 

sixteen years ago: a devastating earthquake in Haiti 

novus ordo seclorum (13. 081)

Though the Donroe doctrine and new world order is disruptive and regressive enough as it is with its spheres of influence and manifest destiny—as well for the unrestrained impulse for branding, there’s likely something more sinister underpinning it, though a noble joke to supporters, with the geopolitical goal aligned with the nationalist and expansionist policies of Lebensraum of the second and the third Reich. The ideology of course has antecedents in colonialism and settler mentalities, perfected in the melting-pot of America, which informed Nazism with eugenics and segregation as tools of tribalism and othering. Also saying the quiet part out loud, the principle was used as justification for Hitler’s territorial extension into central and eastern Europe, a necessity for security and survival with the mass-deportation of native populations to places like Siberia and ultimately extermination, supporting similar narratives espoused by other Axis powers, spazio vitale and hakkō ichiu, shifting dependence for trade to their own imperial hinterlands, and during a speech in December of 1940 delivered at the Berliner Sportspalast: “He who does not possess the force to secure his Lebensraum in this world and, if necessary, to enlarge it, does not deserve to possess the necessities of life. He must step aside and allow stronger peoples to pass him by. This was so at all times. The world will not be an empty one because one Volk renounces its life. Rather the Lebensraum will be filled up by other peoples, other beings. There is no vacuum in nature.” By dint of political expediency, the definition of who was German and who was not was fluid though always undergirded with a quasi-religious sense of fate.

7x7 (13. 080)

good vs ice: Jesse Welles’ (previously) ballad for the woman murdered by an immigration agent in Minneapolis  

what fresh hell is this: an appreciation of Dorothy Parker  

specimen: over the decades, forty thousand individuals have claimed 078-05-1120 as their US social security number 

things to come: a look at Taliban censorship after a new law comes into effect banning images of people and animals  

spicy mode: Elon Musk won’t shut down his non-consensual deepfake generator until faced with legislation  

whodunit: a rare interview with Dame Agatha Christine revisited on fifty years since her demise  

fed chair: Jerome Powell responds to the Trump administration’s threats of indictment—see previously

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump indicted for misuse of campaign funds for hush money (with synchronopticæ), the prescience of George Orwell, the Great Game, MAGA infighting plus US neighbours snap back

twelve years ago: a pedestrian bridge for the Thames plus monograms and ciphers

thirteen years ago: lost infrastructure plus hen parties 

fourteen years ago: GMOs and food safety 

fifteen years ago: The Blow Monkeys 

sixteen years ago: saunas for a frigid day 

cordiform (13. 079)

Via {feuilleton} we are directed to an analysis of the origin of the inverted pear-shaped symbol representing the heart (see previously) ahead of Valentine’s Day through a catalogue of heart-shaped books from the fifteenth century, like the small bound volume held by St Catherine of Alexandria seating with St Jerome (replete with their respective visual attributes) in this anonymous painting from Bruges or Brussels. Such an elaborate manuscript was probably a secular songbook featuring verses on courtly love, the now familiar iconography and association of the organ as the seat of romance cemented in popular culture by the early Renaissance in part by its appearance on playing cards. Though there’s no definitive answer for the origin of ❤️—some speculate it may be inspired by other anatomical features, like breasts or the buttocks that have more to do with carnal thoughts whilst others suppose it might drawn from the shape of ivy leaves long associated with fidelity or to the seeds of silphium—the now extinct herb being both an aphrodisiac and a form of contraception—with others arguing that the iconic heart is not that far-removed from the beating organ with the fovea, the dip at the top between the auricles being the chief feature transmitted through the circles of early medicine, regarding as the most vital because of its pulsating.

electoral collage (13. 078)

Via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links, we are referred to this hypothetical map (see previously)—which albeit premised on a lot of assumptions, like the United States actually annexing Canada as its fifty-first state and continuing to having free and fair elections—illustrates what the addition of the nation’s population would mean demographically and for the political landscape. It was long assumed Washington, DC might become a state jointly with Puerto Rico but now that the latter has turned less conservative, establishment Republicans don’t want to take the risk of ceding minoritarian rule. Assuming also rules governing the apportionment of representatives as outlined in their constitution and redistricting procedures controlled by individual states hold, the enlarged America (with different scenarios played out) would decidedly skew blue in favour of the Democrats and blunt the outsized power and influence of senators from rural, low-population polities. More at the links above.

always try to be nice—but never fail to be kind (13. 077)

Miss Cellania directs us to a treasury of rather profound words to live by compiled from the various regenerations of the Gallifrean and companions, many of the sagest quotations attributed to writer Steven Moffat who joined the series after its sixteen year hiatus in 2005 but there are jewels to be found across the continuum. “Should there be another, I’ll explain to you in great detail whick of the many time laws I am not allowed to transgress.” “Life’s like that—best thing to do is to just get on with it.” “Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty.” “Nine-hundred years in time and space and I’ve never met somebody who wasn’t important.” “There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” “And if there is any hope for any of us in this giant explosion in which we inhabit then surely that’s it: intellect and romance triumph over brute force and cynicism.” What’s your favourite? Click through for the video compilation with eras and episodes cited. Would you like a jelly-baby?

señor coconut (13. 076)

By turns curses and blessed, we are introduced to the concept album by the eponymous cultural appropriator, a techno and euro-dance producer by the name of Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart), titled El Baile Alemán (The Dance of the Germans) that sought track by track to force and fuse two polar opposite genres with Latin covers of Krautrock standards—calling it electrolatino, it’s Kraftwerk meets Buena Vista Social Club. Issued in 1999 on his private label Rather Interesting, a catalogue of his solo projects under various aliases, Schmidt was inspired to experiment after living in Costa Rica for six months, having exported the rave canon he’d helped to create.