mem·o·ry·less·ness

Mathematicians have now figured out the dynamics that drive locusts across the landscape, devastating everything underfoot — and the math says people will never be able to predict where the little buggers will go.

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Further analysis showed that a number of random factors influence when the insects decide to change direction. Mathematically, the change in the locusts’ direction is similar to switches in magnetic properties that occur among clumps of magnetic particles at high temperatures, Escudero says. In both cases, random influences accumulate until suddenly the whole system changes its behavior.

(via ijbarton)