Name: The science of sync
Uploaded: 2008-12-22T01:00:00Z
Duration: 21 min 38 s
Description: Mathematician Steven Strogatz shows how flocks of creatures (like birds, fireflies and fish) manage to synchronize and act as a unit -- when no one's giving orders. The powerful tendency extends into the realm of objects, too.

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Mathematician Steven Strogatz shows how flocks of creatures (like birds, fireflies and fish) manage to synchronize and act as a unit -- when no one's giving orders. The powerful tendency extends into the realm of objects, too.

The science of sync

Nature’s drive toward synchrony runs deeper than instinct or intelligence. Birds flock in mesmerizing patterns and Southeast Asian fireflies light up entire riverbanks in perfect unison, without leaders or choreography. Simple rules—follow the nearest neighbor, keep a little distance, and align—yield complex, beautiful order across species and even inanimate objects. The same unseen force that organizes living things caused London’s Millennium Bridge to wobble when people unconsciously walked in step, revealing sync as a universal principle, not just a biological quirk.