Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction

Oscillating chemical reaction that can produce complex, regularly-spaced shapes that intersect (combining or cancelling) in predictable ways. The actual chemical reaction is very complex and is thought to involve around 18 distinct steps; the original discoverers struggled to get their work published because of their difficulties in explaining the underlying mechanisms of this reaction!

It may be possible to simulate this reaction, at least superficially, using either reaction-diffusion systems or cellular automata (see the Hodgepodge Machine specifically).

TODO: is it possible to succinctly describe "recipe" for reliable BZ reaction in petri dish?

Articles:

• Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction on Wikipedia
• Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction on Scholarpedia
• The Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction and The Hodgepodge Machine by Softology

Code projects:

• Simulating the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction (Python) by Christian Hill

Videos:

• Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction by nater06
• Recreating one of the weirdest reactions by NilesRed
• Preparation of a Belousov--Zhabotinsky reaction for use in a Petri-dish Part 1 by Nigel Baldwin
• Preparation of a Belousov--Zhabotinsky reaction for use in a Petri-dish Part 2 by Nigel Baldwin