Oh man, this is the coolest application of mathematics I\’ve seen. MC Escher\’s print entitled Print Gallery has a blank spot right in the middle, I guess cause Escher couldn\’t figure out what to draw there. A mathematician and his team first wrote a computer program to create a straightened version of the picture. They hired an artist to fill in the empty spaces, then used some complex math to rotate and scale the picture. Finally they inserted the new piece into Print Gallery. It turns out the center of the picture has a Droste effect, a picture inside a picture inside a picture infinitely. The NY Times has a more detailed article. Incredible stuff.
[ From Slashdot ]