Mega Menger!

Mega Menger!

Mega Menger! 640 480 mathgrrl

The NYC Level 3 MegaMenger sponge at MoMath is done!

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That makes us one of 11 locations that have finished a Level 3 Menger sponge as part of the worldwide MegaMenger project. At the moment at least 10 additional Level 3 sites are still in progress, as well as numerous completed Level 1 and 2 sites. The MegaMenger site has a Mengometer to track progress towards the final distributed Level 4, and currently we’re at 77.4 percent complete!

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A large number of dedicated volunteers helped with the NYC build at MoMath, including folks from Speyer Legacy School, Albany Area Math Circle and Union College, the OMG NYC Origami Group, Franklin AcademyOrigami USA, Brooklyn College Math Club, Friends SeminaryStuyvestant ARISTA, Google Chelesa, SAR Academy High School, attendees of the SUMS Conference at James Madison University, math students from CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, City College, and Hunter College, and of course many volunteers, staff, and museum-goers at MoMath, the National Museum of Mathematics.

For the record, it happily turns out that NO TAPE IS NEEDED when making a Level 3 sponge using the new “fractal” build-up method (zipping up outside edges of 20 Level n’s to make a Level n+1 at each stage, instead of using generalized tripod modules). Even the Level 2’s do connect well enough with this method to hold together without any tape or gule. However, because the sponge is going to go on tour and needs to be able to survive traveling, first to Sypeyer Legacy and then to Union College, we did include one vertical strip of packing tape inside eight of the Level-2-connecting seams.

Here are some action photos, showing the last inside column being added and attached, and then people working on the last zip-up seams after the top ring was placed on the build. Check megamenger.com for the nail-biting video of the top ring being picked up, rotated, and placed; once all sites are complete there will be a collection of completion videos for each of the twenty successful Level 3 builds.

photo 1 (3) photo 2 (3)

photo 3 (1)

People often ask me how this crazy project came to be, and my answer to that is that Katie Steckles and Matt Parker are awesome. In related news, you should all go out and buy Matt’s book, Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension, as soon as possible.

 

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1 Comment
  • Braids, Hacktastic, and Rock Climbing | Math Munch February 12, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    […] using a 3D-printer and many other tools. She has designs for all kinds of awesome things, from Menger sponges to trigonometric bracelets. One of the best things about Laura’s site is that she tells you […]

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