So this is kind of a cool simulation that models evolution.A couple coiley spring worms and a rogue rocket worm in actionBasically it randomly generates some critters in a general shape, then randomly contracts their muscles to move them around. The one that moves the furthest is the winner, and then the top ones are bred to make new creatures. Ones that move negative distances instantly die.
I ran the simulation for about 20 minutes with some worms and noticed the following pattern.
0-1 minutes: Era of Wiggly Worms (Average Speed: 3. Top Speed: 198)The worms just kind of wiggle about randomly. Some move forward and these stick around.
1-4 minutes: Era of Inch Worms (Average Speed: about 35. Top Speed: 340)After a couple minutes the wiggly worms can't compete with what look similar to modern inch worms. If you're not familiar with inch worms, they kind of scrunch up their middle so they make a upside-down U shape, then push the forward half of them forward.
4-6 minutes: Era of Flying Rocket Worms (Average Speed: about 400. Top Speed: 1114)Inch worms are great because they're stable. They don't usually flip around backwards and go backwards. But some worms figure out that if they coil up into a C shape so their tail is under neath them and straighten out, they can fly forwards. My fastest worm at this point can go 1114 units!
6-20 minutes: Era of Spring Worms (Average Speed: about 750. Top Speed: 1244But it turns out that rocket worms aren't very stable! Sometimes they flip around and fly backwards and die. While the rare rocket worm manages to keep from flying around backwards, many die. A more stable version of the rocket worm emerges. This one still springs forward but it doesn't launch itself way up into the air. These worms almost never flip over, they keep their heads down and land on their front. While the overall top speed of the worm decreases, the average worm speed continues to go up.
The spring worms continue to experiment with different proportion bodies and slightly more optimized movement patterns. By 18 minutes, my fastest spring worm is now faster than the fastest rocket worm, at 1156 units. After 20 minutes my fastest worm is speeding along at 1244 units.
The worm that went 1244 was a member of generation 15. Here is that worm's DNA, I think there is a place you can paste it in somewhere:
http://pastebin.com/RtadtsNrIf you didn't catch the link at the top of the post, here's the site again:
http://www.cambrianexplosion.com/Just an additional note, I'm now 30 minutes in. The spring worms have figured out that holding their front up so it doesn't touch the ground will reduce friction so they go further. They're kind of halfway between rocket worm and spring worm now. Fastest went 1281. There's a couple of other body shapes and some other parameters I haven't played with yet so there's probably all kinds of things to discover.