![]() ![]() Which according to intuition, shouldn’t be capable of doing anything complex. What’s Happening?Ĭellular automata have fascinated brilliant minds for decades because, unlike nature, they are a clearly defined and deterministically bounded system. Remember there are only three things at play: the starting cells, the basic rules, and iterative repetition. You can explore a live version of the clock simulation here. Rather it self-organized out of the basic starting conditions of the simulation. Hence it’s likely the simplest functioning digital clock ever created.Įxcept that technically, it wasn’t created. Testament to this, the clock we introduced earlier, is actually generated from one specific configuration of Conway’s Game of Life. However, depending on the cells you select, weird things can begin happen. The cells seem to come alive and start doing unusual things such as forming small spaceship-like structures that glide off into the unknown (aptly termed ‘gliders’). The cells form into interesting small and stable structures that flip between two states.ģ. The cells die out or become stagnant, and the simulation effectively ends.Ģ. If you give it a try, you’ll likely notice one of three things.ġ. Just stop the simulation, click on any number of cells to make them alive, then click start. ![]() You can try out the real thing in your browser here. The rules basically instruct cells to be alive or dead (black or white), according to the states of neighboring cells. This version is also the easiest to understand, and comprises just four very simple rules about the way cells behave on a square grid. By the way, if you want to discover an Easter egg from the geeks at Google, try googling ‘Conway’s Game of Life’. Then in 1970, Cambridge mathematician John Conway refined the approach to create Conway’s Game of Life. What Are Cellular Automata?Ĭellular automata were originally devised by John von Neumann. The clock above similarly emerges out of a super-simple simulation (you can think of the pixels like ants), giving an interesting example of cellular automata.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |