Glider Gun
Cellular automata are grids of cells that flip state by simple local rules, and from those rules startlingly lifelike, unpredictable patterns emerge. Participants could use whatever programming language they preferred, or P5.JS if they were new to it. The main goal was to simulate cellular automata and study the complex behaviour they produce from simple rules. Along the way we looked at abstract computing models with real uses in computer science, theoretical biology, and microstructures, cellular automata and Turing machines among them. The workshop suited anyone curious about emergent behaviour, creative coding, and mathematics.
Key references: Mathematical Games: The Fantastic Combinations of John Conway’s New Solitaire Game ‘Life’. M. Gardner. Scientific American, 120-123, 1970. A New Kind of Science. S. Wolfram. Wolfram Media, 2002.