Emergence

A termite "cathedral" mound produced by a termite colony.

Birds flocking emerges from simple rules: keep distance, stay aligned and avoid predators.

Conus textile exhibits an emergent cellular automaton pattern on its shell.

A plaster cast of an ant nest shows the advanced structure emerged from ant behavior.

For most of the times, the slime mold exists as thousands of single-celled organisms, but under certain conditions they group together forming a single entity.

Ripple patterns in a sand dune created by wind or water.

Small atmospheric disturbances emerging into a hurricane.

Emergence appears frequently in cities where no planning predetermines the layout of the city. Bangkok pictured.

Social self-organization in Central Asian trade routes.

A Möbius strip demonstrates emergence in mathematics.

Visualization of links between pages on a wiki.

The stock market has its own "invisible hand" emerging from purely self-interested actions. NYSE pictured.