Physarum Polycephalum

The background animation currently running on this site is a simulated transport network inspired by the slime mold Physarum polycephalum.

The algorithm simulates thousands of independent agent particles that deposit a chemical trail and steer towards the highest concentration of that trail, creating self-organizing organic networks.

Credits

This implementation is inspired by the seminal research paper Characteristics of pattern formation and evolution in approximations of physarum transport networks by Jeff Jones (2010), and the beautiful WebGL adaptations popularized by digital artists like Sage Jenson.

See this effect running full-size in the effects gallery →