Over the past two weeks, we’ve tested our puzzlers’ ability to think deeply outside the box. We explored how swarms of dumb bugs can follow very simple rules yet produce surprising, emergent behaviors. This week continues our Micro Softy series on swarm intelligence, (that’s the technical term).

Our new swarm is called The Followers. This time, the rules they follow are even simpler. Each bug in the swarm randomly picks another bug and begins to move toward it. What happens in the long run?

For this week’s Micro Softy challenge, your task is to describe the emergent behaviors that result from this kind of swarm.

Hint: At least two distinct emergent behaviors can occur. One emerges when a bug happens to choose itself to follow. Since it can’t get any closer to itself, it remains still.  The other emerges when a group of bugs contains no bug that has chosen itself.

Solution to Micro Softy 83: A Swarm of Cowards

Here’s last week’s challenge: Imagine a swarm of bugs. Each bug randomly picks two others in the group. One of the chosen bugs — shown in red in Figure 2 — is an aggressive bully and wants to beat up the green bug. The blue bug is a protector. The cowardly green bug tries to position itself so that the blue protector stands between it and the red bully.

Now imagine that every bug in the swarm follows this rule. What overall pattern emerges from this behavior? What happens when the system reaches a steady state?

Here’s the answer: If the swarm of cowards starts with the clustered formation shown on the left in Figure 2 below, it will gradually disperse. Over time, it will spread out indefinitely. The image on the right shows only a few remaining cowardly bugs. The rest have moved far beyond the visible area.

Here is a video showing this action occurring in real time. Get the popcorn. It’s fun to watch:

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 83: A Swarm of Cowards? In terms of swarm intelligence, what happens if we have a swarm of cowards instead of peacemakers? We continue to explore the way simple roles followed by unintelligent agents — even dumb bugs — can yield complex behavior.

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.

Image Credit: Manyapha - Adobe Stock

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.

Image Credit: Andre Savary - Adobe Stock

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!