Systems of interacting agents arise throughout the natural world and are studied in such varied disciplines as engineering, physics, and biology. What is the optimal way for a swarm of robotic bees to pollinate a bed of crops? How can we use vortex motion in superconductors to develop new technologies for renewable energy? How does a colony of slime mold communicate using chemical signals? UCSB Professor Katy Craig describes the mathematics underlying systems of interacting agents and how such systems can be analyzed using an age old scientific technique: what happens if we poke it? Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 32752]