Physical Intelligence in Insect and Robot Societies - IPAM at UCLA

Explore the fascinating world of collective intelligence in insect and robot societies through this 30-minute lecture by Harvard University's L Mahadevan. Delve into the complex physiological problem-solving abilities of super-organisms, focusing on termites, bees, and ants as they regulate their micro-environments through construction and deconstruction of functional architectures. Discover how physics and behavior are linked across multiple scales, utilizing local sensing and action mediated by global physics. Examine the concept of embodied physical intelligence and its mathematical implications. Gain insights into experiments with simple robots that address questions raised by pioneers like Turing and Tinbergen. Recorded at IPAM's Mathematics of Collective Intelligence Workshop at UCLA, this talk offers a unique perspective on the intersection of applied mathematics, organismic and evolutionary biology, and physics.