Domino is a small, flat rectangular block, each face bearing from one to six dots or pips. It is a game piece that can be arranged to form lines or curved shapes or to stand up and hold objects, such as stones. There are many games that can be played with dominoes, including a version of solitaire and some trick-taking games. In addition, dominoes can be used to create art, such as a rainbow spiral or a wall of 3D structures. The name comes from the Latin word for “fall” and refers to the way a domino can be tipped over by the one below it, causing the entire row of dominoes to topple.

Most people are familiar with the fun of lining up dominoes and then flipping them over, one at a time. You can even make more complex structures by stacking them on end in long rows. These are known as domino art, and they can be made to look like sculptures or paintings. People can also use dominoes to create a puzzle, or they can be used as a learning tool for counting and number recognition.

In the world of business, the phrase “domino effect” is used to describe a series of events that lead to much larger and more catastrophic consequences. For example, a political event in one country could cause similar events in neighboring countries—the equivalent of a falling domino. This idea has become popular in movies and television shows that show a chain reaction that leads to disaster.

Lily Hevesh was fascinated with dominoes when she was 9 years old, and her grandparents gave her a set of 28 classic dominoes to play with. Soon she began making her own domino designs and posting videos of them online. Her YouTube channel now has more than 2 million subscribers. Hevesh has created a variety of mind-blowing domino installations, including circular arrangements that take several nail-biting minutes to fall. Some of her biggest installations include more than 300,000 dominoes.

She plans each section of her displays before they are built, using a variation of the engineering design process. She makes test versions of each part of a display and then films them in slow motion to check that they work as planned.

Hevesh also uses the video recording process to help her identify the problem spots in a design and fix them before she builds the final display. She may also make tests that connect the different parts of a display to see how they interact with each other.

She often creates designs that incorporate several colors, and she tests each color separately to be sure it works as expected. When she is satisfied with the results of her testing, she begins building the display. She builds the largest 3-D sections first, then adds flat arrangements and finally the lines of dominoes that link the larger pieces together. Each piece of her amazing displays is constructed with care and precision, and Hevesh is always awed by the beauty of the finished product.