Dominos are a game of laying out a series of rectangular tiles, whose ends are either blank or have a number of spots — pips — on them. They can be played as a traditional positional game or as a solitaire variant. A domino set typically contains one tile for each possible combination of spots, from six pips down to none or blank.

They are often made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (MOP), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted. They are typically twice as long as they are wide, which makes it easier to stack them.

Originally, they represented the 21 possible faces of two six-sided dice. During the mid-18th century, Western dominoes became popular and were later brought to China. Chinese dominoes differ from European ones in that they have a line down the middle, instead of the pips, to divide them visually into two squares.

A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when a single event sets off a chain of similar events. It is usually used to describe a mechanical effect but can also be applied to a non-mechanical scenario.

In a broader sense, dominoes can be used to illustrate the physics of energy conversion. When a domino falls, much of its potential energy converts into kinetic energy, which is transferred to the next domino.

Some of that energy can also be converted to heat, which is then transferred to the other dominoes in the chain. This heat can cause them to swell or contract, and sometimes even break.

Lily Hevesh, a domino artist, uses this process to create mind-blowing setups for her YouTube channel, Hevesh5, which has over 2 million subscribers.

Her designs can be as simple or elaborate as she wants, using straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, stacked walls and 3D structures like towers and pyramids.

She starts by considering the theme of the installation she’s designing, then brainstorming images or words she might want to use in the design.

Once she’s got a clear idea of what she wants, she creates the actual art. She uses a variety of different tools – including a drill press, radial arm saw, scroll saw and belt sander – to cut the pieces she needs to make her designs.

Then she uses a combination of her own muscle memory and her knowledge of engineering-design principles to lay out the art. This involves creating a design that is as big or small as she wants, then sketching out the layout with arrows to show how the dominoes should fall.

When she’s done, she sticks it all together with tape and glue – making sure she has a strong enough bond to hold the dominoes in place. She then takes her artwork outside to hang it up and admire it for a while.

As you play with dominoes, you will start to build new habits that will carry over to other parts of your life, transforming them into “dominoes of your own.” Once you’ve made a commitment to a behavior or a change in how you think about yourself, the dominoes will continue to fall one by one, forming a cascade of new habits and changing your identity.