Birds’ turns match math of quantum matter
Equations of superfluidity may explain spread of information in a starling flock
Starlings seem to have nothing in common with quantum matter. But the equations explaining some of the quantum dynamics of superfluid helium may describe what happens when a flock of starlings makes a sharp turn.
Hundreds or thousands of starlings can flock together and appear to move through the sky as a single organism, shifting directions as though of one mind. “The moment the decision to turn is sweeping through the flock is a moment of weakness in the group,” says physicist Andrea Cavagna of the Sapienza University of Rome. He explains that during starlings’ turns, predators such as peregrine falcons can strike because the flock isn’t flying as cohesively as possible.