Last week’s Micro Softy challenged our puzzlers ability to think abstractly. We explored how simple rules can lead to complex behavior when the rules are followed by unintelligent agents — in that case it was dumb bugs. We continue that theme this week but instead of looking at “Peacemaker” bugs, we’re going to focus on the “Cowards.”

We’ll return to the Peacemakers shortly when we reveal the answer to last week’s Micro Softy. But first, the Cowards.

Imagine a swarm of bugs again. Each one randomly chooses two others from the group. One of them —shown in red in the figure — is an aggressive bully that wants to attack the green bug. The other —shown in blue — is a protector. The timid green bug moves so that the blue protector stands between itself and the red bully.

Now imagine that every bug in the swarm follows this same simple rule. What kind of overall pattern or emergent behavior would appear? And what does the swarm look like once it settles into a steady state?

We will give the answer next week.

Solution to Micro Softy 82: When Bugs Break Up Fights

Here’s the puzzle: There’s a large swarm of crawling insects. Each bug eyes two other bugs that it thinks are going to fight. As seen in Figure 2, it wants to be a peacemaker so begins to place itself between the two other bugs.  Every bug in the swarm eyes two different bugs and does the same thing. Each bug is moving trying to place itself between two other bugs chosen at random. What happens after this has gone on for a while?

The interesting answer is that all the bugs will move to gather in a single spot. Consider, for example, the result in Figure 3. On the left, we show an initialization where all of the bugs are spread out. Each has identified two other bugs for which it wants to be a peacemaker. After some time, we see that all of the bugs have accumulated in a single point. This is shown in the figure on the right below:

Here is a video which shows this result. I think you’ll enjoy it:

The Monday Micro Softy is a weekly feature of Mind Matters News. Here are the links to all the puzzles and answers to date:

Monday Micro Softy 82:  When Bugs Break Up Fights. A surprising amount of intelligence of use in the computer industry can be learned from watching insects. To solve last week’s puzzle, keep in mind that every termite is doing the same thing. You can find puzzles 77 through 81 here as well.

Monday Micro Softy 81: Termites are Surprisingly Smart. Provided we agree to count swarm intelligence, which we also use in computer science. Swarm intelligence enables the colony to converge on the shortest and most efficient path to food without any individual being especially smart.

Monday Micro Softy 80: The Digits of Least Significance. The patterns found in numbers can be useful as well as fascinating. Last week’s puzzle is also easier to solve if we observe some of the patterns that number theory reveals.

Monday Micro Softy 79: The Last Digits in Fermat’s Last Theorem. Did Andrew Wiles really prove Fermat’s Last Theorem? Today we offer you a chance to decide. About last week’s MicroSofty: Think of the probability issue as just a distraction…

Monday Micro Softy 78: Card Sharks That Bite Harder. You can beat the odds in some card games if you understand probability theory. Try your chances! Last week’s puzzle, like several others, is easy to solve if we use inclusive thinking about relationships.

Monday Micro Softy 77: Two Proud Texans  I’m aware of no other state where businesses and citizens proudly fly their state flag. I live in McGregor, Texas, where Elon Musk’s Space X has a testing center, and occasionally, the testing of their rocket engines gently rattles the dishes on the shelves in my home. 

Monday Micro Softy 76: The Smoking Gun explains a computer scientist or engineer, a law enforcement officer often relies on abductive reasoning to crack a case, so with this in mind, you will have to crack last week’s puzzle. You can find puzzles 55 through 75 here as well.

Monday Micro Softy 55: “It happens every spring.” Baseball, that is. Here’s a puzzle that takes in baseball’s summer. To solve last week’s puzzle, you don’t need to know the distance. Check the problem again for the number you do need to know. You can find puzzles 51 through 54 here as well.

Monday Micro Softy 50: Cutting through the cornbread. How did Yuri Senior cut the cornbread into eight identical portions using only three straight cuts? You can guess the answer to Microsofty 49 if you try the test question yourself at home, using a small mirror. Links to Microsofties 46 through 49 are here as well.

Monday Micro Softy 45: Can Tony beat the fast-food curfew? An early curfew on fast food service motivated a boy to exercise more vigorously. But how fast was he pedalling? To solve Micro Softy 44, recall that Tony doesn’t need to take the individual pills each day, only the prescribed amount of each. You will find links here to Micros Softies 41 through 44 as well.

Monday Micro Softy 40: The fate of a false prophet. He wasn’t actually fired for being a false prophet but for something that his prophecy unintentionally revealed. The solution to Micro Softy 39 lies in considering an alternative possible meaning of a word commonly used in sports. You will also find links to Micro Softies 30 through 39 and their answers here as well.

Monday Micro Softy 29: A funeral lament in four lines. The funeral director was puzzled by Dan’s description of his relationship to the deceased but there was no question that his grief was sincere Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 22 through 29.

Monday Micro Softy 21: Finding More of the Deadly Fentanyl Pills. Here, you will also find links to Microsofties 11 through 20 as well.

Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar? Here you will find links to the first ten Micro Softies. Have fun!