ecosystem

The Living Layer

Every page on this site has a hidden ecosystem. Six biological species — each modeled on real stigmergy research — live in the margins, steal your letters, and route around obstacles. They are dormant until you find the switch.

Ψ

The Button

Scroll to the bottom of any page. In the lower-left corner you'll find a dim Ψ symbol. Click it. Life wakes up. Click it again to put everything back to sleep.

The button pulses once when you first arrive — blink and you'll miss it.

Six Species, One Parameter

Each species sits at a different point on the Ψ spectrum — an order parameter for collective intelligence derived from real biological research. The control panel lets you tune each species independently and watch how coordination dynamics change.

🔬

Bacteria

Ψ ≈ 0.15

Vibrio fischeri

Quorum sensing. Individual cells drift randomly until local density crosses a threshold, then they synchronize bioluminescence. The most redundant species — mostly independent, occasionally collective.

🐦

Starlings

Ψ ≈ 0.45

Sturnus vulgaris

Murmuration. Each bird tracks its nearest neighbors and the flock self-organizes into sweeping formations. No leader, no plan — just local rules producing global patterns.

🐜

Termites

Ψ ≈ 0.55

Macrotermes bellicosus

Letter thieves. Termites wander the page, steal characters from text, and carry them to a mound at the bottom. They walk around 3D elements — they're ground-bound and respect obstacles.

🍄

Mycorrhizal

Ψ ≈ 0.60

Mycorrhizal Network

Underground connections. Hyphae grow along text elements, branching and colonizing. When a surface is colonized enough, red-and-white Amanita mushroom caps fruit at the tips. Caps won't grow inside 3D spaces.

🐝

Honeybees

Ψ ≈ 0.78

Apis mellifera

Pollinators. Bees fly Bézier curves between headings, waggle-dance near text, and carry pollen back to a hive at the page bottom. The honeycomb grows with each delivery.

🟢

Slime Mold

Ψ ≈ 0.82

Physarum polycephalum

Network optimizer. Slime tubes grow between headings, pulsing with nutrient flow. The tubes route around 3D obstacles — the same maze-solving behavior that earned Physarum a place in computational biology.

The Inverted-U

The Ψ parameter follows an inverted-U curve. Too low (Ψ < 0.35) and the system is redundant — agents act independently, wasting effort. Too high (Ψ > 0.75) and it's fragmented — over-coordination creates brittleness. The sweet spot is Ψ* ≈ 0.588, where collective intelligence peaks. The control panel's mini-chart shows exactly where your ecosystem sits on this curve.

This isn't a metaphor. It's a measurable order parameter from the ANTS 2026 paper. The creatures on this site are running the math.

They See the Page

The species interact with 3D elements on each page. Ground-bound creatures (termites, fungi, slime) detect canvas elements and route around them. Flyers (starlings, bees) and bacteria ignore obstacles entirely — they operate in different spatial dimensions. Each species follows its biological logic.