A fractal is a geometric shape that is similiar to itself at
different scales. More clearly, a fractal shape will look almost,
or even exactly, the same no matter what size it is viewed at. If
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Fractal objects have several interesting properties. One of the
most interesting is self-similarity. The Sierpenski triangle is a
good example of this. Sierpenski's is composed of four smaller
triangles, each of which are composed of four even smaller
triangles, and so on. A fractal object object such as this exhibit
self-similarity over many scales of observation. Another property
of a fractal object is a lack of well defined scale. A good
example of this is clouds, which tend to look very similar no
matter what their size. The human body's arteries, veins, nerves,
parotid gland ducts, and the bronchial tree all show some type of
organization. Fractals can also be found in:
-Regional distribution of pulmonary blood flow
-Pulmonary alveolar structure
-Mammographic parenchymal pattern as a risk for breast cancer
-Regional myocardial blood flow heterogeneity
-Fractal surfaces of proteins
-Distribution of arthropod body lengths