A surface which displays colorful, self-organized patterns. It can be fed, in which case it grows, extending the design. When a piece is broken off, it grows into a new pattern, like a sponge or a polyp.
-- cosma, Jan 28 2000

Visual Models of Morphogenesis http://www.cpsc.uca.../bmv/vmm/title.html
What the sea-shells (and other living CA-like objects) look like [cosma, Jan 28 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Primordial Soup Kitchen http://psoup.math.wisc.edu/
Pretty CA pictures, i.e., things it would be nice to grow [cosma, Jan 28 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

L2K at Burning Man http://www.synaptick.net/l2k/
"The featured item of the camp is the "pattern buffer lounge", a 30 foot dome with a ring of 2000 lights and pushbuttons that people can play with. Pressing the buttons sends light patterns moving around the ring, and then the patterns go out to a 2000 foot ring of lights around the Man." [Thanks to Jutta for the updated link.] [rmutt, Jan 28 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Reaction-Diffusion System http://www.ccsf.cal...du/ismap/image.html
CAs aren't the only way to generate pretty patterns... [egnor, Jan 28 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

artists recreate based on last version of image http://conform.suffocate.org/
see what gossip looks like as an art form [julien, Jan 28 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

This is already kind of done in the computer field: cellular automata. If you have a Unix machine, get XScreenSaver from Jamie Zawinski (www.jwz.org) and see all the live demos. Would be cool to do with live substances, but would avant garde regenerate art be noxious and possibly infect people? Would it be funded? Would it be preserved by scientists?
-- dnm, Mar 01 2000


Actually, my academic day-job is research on cellular automata; I want to see the suckers in real life. Some sea-shells grow patterns like what I have in mind, and they're not noxious at all, but they are very slow. And they don't regenerate if you break them.
-- cosma, Mar 01 2000


I'm sure we'll be able to do this with nanotechnology when it starts happening.
-- monde, Mar 04 2000


Moss!

Granted, one has to look at the designs with a magnifying glass, but it's certainly self-reproducing. Presumably not quite as tiling-like as you want.
-- hello_c, Sep 02 2000


Chia Set!
-- thumbwax, Oct 11 2000


This is to counter-act the current trend of degenerate are that conservatives are complaining about?
-- lawpoop, Jul 24 2004


Like a super-chia.

Hmmm...
-- DesertFox, Sep 24 2006



random, halfbakery