One ant, two rules.
Christopher Langton’s ant, 1986. It flips the square it stands on and steps forward. For 9,977 steps it makes a mess — then it starts building a highway, and never stops.
- 1986
- Chris Langton invents the ant while studying artificial life.
- 9,977
- steps of chaos before the highway begins.
- 104
- steps per highway cycle, moving 2 squares diagonally each time.
- On a white square
- turn right
- On a black square
- turn left
Then flip the square and step forward.
The grid
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100
100%
Ant at 0, 0
Space
to start the ant