I am fortunate enough to teach both AP Biology and chemistry. In the AP Biology curriculum, self-assembly is part of the conversation and I had some background on the chemical nature of self-assembly and chemical evolution (simple to complex) molecules. What was VERY COOL was seeing how the effects of the nanoscale affect the behavior of large groups of organisms. Who would have thought a few simple rules can control the behavior of 10,00 birds swarming together? I was reminded of the famous mathematician, John Nash, from the movie "Beautiful Minds", where Nash used algorithms developed by watching pigeon behavior to construct a statistics program that models the behavior of larger systems. Here is a link to the John Nash Story:
The flocking behavior exercise I performed with my students is something I hope to use in my classroom. I admit that I was completely shocked when a two simple rules created a flocking response that was predictable. In the video below, my students followed a simple rule: Keep yourself between predator A and protector B, and the flock will implode on itself. This is indeed what occurred and I couldn't believe it! See video below:
How do natural flocks maintain organization when there is clearly no leader? Are the laws of behavior governed by the laws of physics and chemistry? Compare my students to an actual flock of starlings.. COOL COOL VIDEO...who's the leader? See video clip below:
I used only 13 students and the flock almost immediately imploded just by changing one simple rule (previously, the students lined up with the YOU---Protector B------Predator A, and the flock did NOT implode.
As far as natural rules, I wonder if the magnetic fields of atoms or groups of atoms in molecules play roles in ultimately determining behavior of organisms on a macroscopic level. How does an animal know what the rules are? How do ants cooperate without being taught. There is a video I show my chemistry students and AP biology kids about how molecules self-assemble to create complex patterns following the rules of magnetism. Here is a link to the self assembly lab at MIT where the researches discuss self assembly and its role in future engineering manufacturing. I show this to my students to tie in ideas like Coulomb's law, and the self assembly of molecules based on charges and magnetic fields:
As far as natural rules, I wonder if the magnetic fields of atoms or groups of atoms in molecules play roles in ultimately determining behavior of organisms on a macroscopic level. How does an animal know what the rules are? How do ants cooperate without being taught. There is a video I show my chemistry students and AP biology kids about how molecules self-assemble to create complex patterns following the rules of magnetism. Here is a link to the self assembly lab at MIT where the researches discuss self assembly and its role in future engineering manufacturing. I show this to my students to tie in ideas like Coulomb's law, and the self assembly of molecules based on charges and magnetic fields:
Here is a link to MIT's self-assembly lab website. There is a video that explains the cross-disciplinary nature of the department. The Self-Assembly Lab at MIT is a cross-disciplinary research lab composed of designers, scientists (of all fields) and engineers inventing self-assembly technologies aimed at re- imagining the processes of construction, manufacturing and infrastructure in the built environment. The team uses algorithms derived from patterns derived from nature, from the chemical nature of molecules to flocking behavior of animals:
Self-Assembly Lab, MIT from Skylar Tibbits on Vimeo.
Is it, then, that the simple rules that govern flock behavior and any type of macroscopic response controlled by the laws of physics. For those of you who would like to try a computer program that utilized algorithms derived from rules generated by natural systems, check out this NETLOGO website and play around with the flocking rules. The same behavior was demonstrated by my students using simple rules, similar to the ones mentioned in this program.
COOL COOL COOL!
COOL COOL COOL!
Finally, this video by Skylar Tidbits seems to me to tie in this week's information in an intuitive way. This TED TALKS focuses on the question: "Can we make things that make themselves? " I recommend that anyone interested in learning more about the application of self-assembly technology derived from natural algorithms watch this clip. COOL SUMMARY OF THIS WEEK'S INFO!!