Fractals make pretty posters, but they also describe stunning 3D molecular shapes. A fractal describes a geometric shape that has the same patterns at many different size scales, like a branching bit ...

When it comes to high-performance filtration, separation, sunlight collection, surface charge storage or catalysis, the effective surface area is what counts. Highly regular fractal structures seem to ...

See: our gallery of how the Mandelbrot set burst out of two dimensions It may look like a piece of virtuoso knitting, but the makers of an image they call the Mandelbulb (see right) claim it is ...