Another physical embodiment of cellular
Another physical embodiment of cellular automata: moving monopoles in a tetrahedral spin ice. (Not sure how the tetrahedra are packed though...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_ice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_ice
Originally shared by Wayne RadinskyMoving monopoles. Well, virtual monopoles. So if you flip some of the atoms in a tetrahedral crystal, you get areas of greater magnetic fields -- north and south -- in the centers of the tetrahedrons. These north and south magnetic "poles" (regions) can subsequently move independently through the crystal.
One of the very first facts you learn about electromagnetism—long before you walk into your first physics class—is that every magnet has two poles. Cut a bar...
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