Evolution of swarming behavior is shaped by how predators attack

Animal grouping behaviors have been widely studied due to their implications for understanding social intelligence, collective cognition, and potential applications in engineering, artificial intelligence, and robotics. An important biological aspect of these studies is discerning which selection pressures favor the evolution of grouping behavior. In the past decade, researchers have begun using evolutionary computation to study the evolutionary effects of these selection pressures in predator-prey models. The selfish herd hypothesis states that concentrated groups arise because prey selfishly attempt to place their conspecifics between themselves and the predator, thus causing an endless cycle of movement toward the center of the group. Using an evolutionary model of a predator-prey system, we show that how predators attack is critical to the evolution of the selfish herd. Following this discovery, we show that density-dependent predation provides an abstraction of Hamilton's original formulation of ``domains of danger.'' Finally, we verify that density-dependent predation provides a sufficient selective advantage for prey to evolve the selfish herd in response to predation by coevolving predators. Thus, our work corroborates Hamilton's selfish herd hypothesis in a digital evolutionary model, refines the assumptions of the selfish herd hypothesis, and generalizes the domain of danger concept to density-dependent predation.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables, including 2 Supplementary Figures. Version to appear in "Artificial Life

Cooperation of Nature and Physiologically Inspired Mechanism in Visualisation

A novel approach of integrating two swarm intelligence algorithms is considered, one simulating the behaviour of birds flocking (Particle Swarm Optimisation) and the other one (Stochastic Diffusion Search) mimics the recruitment behaviour of one species of ants – Leptothorax acervorum. This hybrid algorithm is assisted by a biological mechanism inspired by the behaviour of blood flow and cells in blood vessels, where the concept of high and low blood pressure is utilised. The performance of the nature-inspired algorithms and the biologically inspired mechanisms in the hybrid algorithm is reflected through a cooperative attempt to make a drawing on the canvas. The scientific value of the marriage between the two swarm intelligence algorithms is currently being investigated thoroughly on many benchmarks and the results reported suggest a promising prospect (al-Rifaie, Bishop & Blackwell, 2011). We also discuss whether or not the ‘art works’ generated by nature and biologically inspired algorithms can possibly be considered as ‘computationally creative’

A Review on the Application of Natural Computing in Environmental Informatics

Natural computing offers new opportunities to understand, model and analyze the complexity of the physical and human-created environment. This paper examines the application of natural computing in environmental informatics, by investigating related work in this research field. Various nature-inspired techniques are presented, which have been employed to solve different relevant problems. Advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are discussed, together with analysis of how natural computing is generally used in environmental research.Comment: Proc. of EnviroInfo 201

JPEG steganography with particle swarm optimization accelerated by AVX

Digital steganography aims at hiding secret messages in digital data transmitted over insecure channels. The JPEG format is prevalent in digital communication, and images are often used as cover objects in digital steganography. Optimization methods can improve the properties of images with embedded secret but introduce additional computational complexity to their processing. AVX instructions available in modern CPUs are, in this work, used to accelerate data parallel operations that are part of image steganography with advanced optimizations.Web of Science328art. no. e544

Cobertura Fornecendo em Redes de Sensores Direcionais através de Algoritmos de Aprendizagem (Autômatos de Aprendizagem)

Today, wireless sensor networks due to application development are widely used. There are significant issues in these networks; they can be more effective if they would be fixed. One of these problems is the low coverage of these networks due to their low power. If coverage increases only by increasing the power of sending and receiving power, it can increase network consumption as a catastrophic disaster, while the lack of energy is one of the most important constraints on these networks. To do this, the antenna coverage is oriented in some sensor networks to cover the most important places. This method tries to improves the efficiency and coverage of directional sensor networks by providing a mechanism based on the learning algorithm of the machine called learning automata. Results show this method outperform the before methods at least 20%.Hoy en día, las redes de sensores inalámbricos debido al desarrollo de aplicaciones son ampliamente utilizadas. Hay problemas importantes en estas redes; pueden ser más efectivos si se solucionan. Uno de estos problemas es la baja cobertura de estas redes debido a su baja potencia. Si la cobertura aumenta solo elevando la potencia de envío y recepción de energía, puede aumentar el consumo de red como un desastre catastrófico, mientras que la falta de energía es una de las limitaciones más importantes de estas redes. Para hacer esto, la cobertura de la antena está orientada en algunas redes de sensores para cubrir los lugares más importantes. Este método intenta mejorar la eficiencia y la cobertura de las redes de sensores direccionales al proporcionar un mecanismo basado en el algoritmo de aprendizaje de la máquina denominado autómatas de aprendizaje. Los resultados muestran que este método supera los métodos anteriores al menos un 20%.Hoy en día, as redes de sensores inalámbricos debitaram o desenvolvimento de aplicações sonoras extensamente utilizadas. Obras do feno importantes nas redes; pueden ser más effectivos e se solucionan. Uns de esos protes es la baja cobertura de es redes debido a su baja potencia. Se a porta leva sozinho a aumentar a potência de envio e a recepção de energia, aumentar o consumo de energia como um desastre catastrófico, a falta de energia de energia é uma das limitações mais importantes destas redes. Para hacer esto, a cobertura da antena está orientada nas algunas redes de sensores para cubrir os lugares mais importantes. This method intenta mejor a eficiencia and the coverage of the networks of sensors directionals are provided in engine based on the algorithm of aprendizado of the machine denominado autómatas de aprendizaje. Los resultados muestran que este método supera os métodos anteriores a menos de 20%