Biology
Collective Decision-Making in Fish Schools and Bird Flocks
Quick fact
A school of fish or flock of birds can change direction in under 100 milliseconds, far faster than any single individual could react to the initial stimulus—thanks to distributed, wave-like information transfer across the group.
Why this is interesting
Imagine a flock of starlings twisting through the sky in perfect sync, or a school of fish turning as one to dodge a predator. How do hundreds of individuals make split-second decisions without a leader?