Anorak

Anorak News | Langton’s Ant: Creating Endless Order From Chaos

Langton’s Ant: Creating Endless Order From Chaos

by | 8th, April 2014

langton's ant

 

LANGTON’S Ant is a story of habit. Scientist Chris Langton discovered the phenomenon in 1986.

Chris Langton

Chris Langton

 

If you were to put an ant down on a grid of squares and ask the ant to follow two rules something odd would happen.

The rules:

1. If you are on a white square, turn 90° right, change the colour of the square to black, and move forward one unit square.

2. If you are on a black square, turn 90° left, change the colour of the square to white, and move forward one square.

The ant menders about. Then after around, say, 10,000 moves, the ant contructs a “highway,” following a repeating loop of 104 steps that unfolds forever.

 



Posted: 8th, April 2014 | In: Strange But True, Technology Comment | TrackBack | Permalink