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This intricate object is a Mandelbulb. No, not a piece of but possibly the most accurate three-dimensional representation yet of the famous fractal Mandelbrot set.

From fern leaves to broccoli, fractal shapes are ubiquitous in nature and can also be generated by mathematical formulas applied iteratively to produce elaborate 鈥渟elf-similar鈥� patterns. The 2D Mandelbrot set is a set of points in the complex plane, a mathematical space where ordinary numbers run from 鈥渆ast鈥� to 鈥渨est鈥� and 鈥渋maginary鈥� numbers, based on the square root of -1, run from 鈥渟outh鈥� to 鈥渘orth鈥�. In this space, multiplying a number rotates the plane, and addition shifts it in a particular direction.

To create the Mandelbrot set these actions are repeated for every point, making some vanish to infinity and others hover around zero. When turned into an image, the intricate outline of these points cannot be simplified however far in or out you zoom, making its boundary a fractal. Because complex space is 2D, producing a 3D version is tricky.

, an amateur fractal image maker based in Bedford, UK, first tried performing the same rotations and shifts in normal 3D space, but it was only when he asked for help on , a website for fractal admirers, that a breakthrough was made. Another member, , suggested raising White鈥檚 formula to a higher power, the equivalent of increasing the rotations in complex space. His intuition proved right and the result is the Mandelbulb.