Researchers at NYU’s Courant Institute mapped flocking birds and schooling fish to a soft crystalline lattice, treating each animal as an atom held by spring‑like bonds. The study, published in Physical Review Fluids, shows that these groups act like elastic materials, revealing hidden order in natural swarms.

By recreating the motion with 3D‑printed plastic wings that flap in water, the team captured airflow and demonstrated that a line of flappers self‑arranges, matching the theoretical lattice. This experimental setup confirms the model and offers a new lens for aerodynamics and hydrodynamics in engineering.

The findings open paths to analyze and manipulate collective movement, with implications for robotics, automotive design, and energy harvesting. The work, funded by the National Science Foundation (DMS‑1847955), links biological coordination to material science, suggesting that swarm algorithms could mimic elastic lattices for efficient motion.

By treating animal swarms as soft crystals, NYU scientists bridge physics and biology, providing a framework that could translate into smarter vehicle swarms and responsive materials. This study confirms that natural collective motion obeys predictable physical laws, offering engineers a tangible model to emulate.