In 1986 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Christopher Langton created Langton's Ant—a famous 2D cellular automaton demonstrating Emergence in Artificial Life.
A cybernetic ant moves on a grid following two microscopic rules:
• On a white cell: turn 90° Right, flip color to Black, move 1 step.
• On a black cell: turn 90° Left, flip color to White, move 1 step.
After initial chaotic wandering (~10,000 steps), a miraculous 104-step "Highway" 🛣️ emerges, and the ant marches infinitely!
Tap anywhere on the grid to drop new cybernetic ants!
Langton (1986)
Adjust simulation computation speed per frame.
Change grid resolution.
EMERGENCE DISCOVERY:
1. Tap anywhere on the grid to drop a Cybernetic Ant 🐜.
2. Turn on Hyperspeed [H] to watch the ant reach 10,000 steps.
3. Observe the miraculous Highway 🛣️ emerge spontaneously!