life inspired

Justin Werfel and his group "have developed small robots that behave much like termites. The insects build impressive, metres-high structures even though they can follow only simple rules and have no knowledge of an overall plan." Full news article @ BBC news

Labels: collective intelligence, robots, Swarms

"The interactions revealed here may help account for the rapid changes in speed and direction that enable real animal groups to stay cohesive and amplify important social information". Full paper @ PNAS

Katz et al [2011]. PNAS November 15, 2011 vol. 108 no. 46 18720-18725

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"Collective motion, where large numbers of individuals move synchronously together, is achieved when individuals adopt interaction rules that determine how they respond to their neighbors’ movements and positions. These rules determine how group-living animals move, make decisions, and transmit information between individuals. Nonetheless, few studies have explicitly determined these interaction rules in moving groups, and very little is known about the interaction rules of fish. Here, we identify three key rules for the social interactions of mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)". Herbert-Read et al [2011].PNAS November 15, 2011 vol. 108 no. 46 18726-18731

Labels: collective behavior, fish, Swarms

"Swarm Chemistry" is the pilot research project run by Hiroki Sayama in the Department of Bioengineering at Binghamton University, as well as the interactive simulation software developed and used for the project.

We study the collective dynamics of heterogeneous self-propelled particle swarms and develop novel methods of decentralized control and interactive design of self-organizing decentralized systems. Swarm agents steer their motion according to a set of simple kinetic rules, similar to those in Craig Reynolds' "Boids". Each agent in our model has its own kinetic parameters that may be different from others, so that we can mix several different types of swarm agents into a single population and see how they kinetically react and form a dynamic pattern.

Labels: Artificial Life, simulation, Swarms

A tiny chemical "brain" which could one day act as a remote control for swarms of nano-machines has been invented. The molecular device - just two billionths of a metre across - was able to control eight of the microscopic machines simultaneously in a test. Full Story @
BBC NEWS|Science/Nature

Labels: nanobots, robots, Swarms

Biologists are finding that in some social insects nature, not nurture, determines whether offspring become workers or royalty. Full article @ Science

Labels: genetics, social agents, Swarms

A gene involved in egg production also helps honeybees exhibit some crucial social behaviors that distinguish them from solitary insects, researchers report in PLoS Biology this week. Full Story @ The Scientist

Labels: social agents, Swarms

"By studying army ants — as well as birds, fish, locusts and other swarming animals — Dr. Couzin and his colleagues are starting to discover simple rules that allow swarms to work so well. Those rules allow thousands of relatively simple animals to form a collective brain able to make decisions and move like a single organism." Full Story @ New York Times

Labels: collective behavior, collective intelligence, Swarms

"Bees display a remarkable range of talents—abilities that in a mammal such as a dog we would associate with consciousness". Full article @ Scientific American

Labels: intelligence, Swarms