Drove by this pile of traffic barriers recently. I was mesmerized.

Bwa! I didn't really expect people to notice this random clip so much.

I don't have a soundcloud, but I am making an indie game that has... lighting? (Sorry that's a real stretch... >_<) https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137670/Veridian_Expanse/ Wishlists make indie games go brrrr!

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@slembcke Is that going to be anything like Descent?
@FoxeinSocks kinda more like 2D twin stick Subnautica inside an asteroid.
@slembcke I shall have the persons I pay for steam for to wish for it!
@FoxeinSocks mastodon account for it at @vexpanse if you are interested too. :)
@slembcke Cool! Looks *really* pretty and the gameplay mechanics look up my alley! Wishlisted!
@lerxst Mastodon account for it at @vexpanse too if you are interested. :)
@slembcke oooo, steam, nice. I shall wishlist and purchase when its out.
I wonder how many times it's been scraped back together after somebody drove into it
@slembcke
@slembcke seems like a fire/flame simulation! πŸ”₯

@slembcke re: alt text

"in unison"? those don't seem to be in unison to me

@iykury True. It's more of a nice repeating pattern. Kinda wavey.
@slembcke I think it's called a gallop if you find more than two together in the wild.
@slembcke It's mating season on the freeway!
@slembcke barriers only do this when they're very stressed
@secretasianman @slembcke
Indeed. It's their natural behavior.
<David Attenborough voice>
This rare phenomenon occurs when the traffic barriers are startled by something.
Normally, the these barriers are quite stationary, often found in long lines by the freeway. But sometimes, even though we can't see it, the barriers sense a predator and they suddenly rush together.
The exact mechanism hasn't been determined yet. It's speculated that the fumes of a hungry pick up can trigger them this way.

@slembcke

Indeed, hard not to keep looking at it!

@slembcke The insects chirping just add to it!
@megatronicthronbanks Don't forget the engine sounds from my 2009 Honda Fit econo-hatchback. (You can tell it's orange from the timbre right?)
@slembcke what are they saying to each other?
@slembcke I’d be stuck waiting until they all flashed at once. At some point it’s *gotta* happen.
@slembcke "I want to LIVE THERE." -- first words that came into my head upon seeing that.
@slembcke You found a nest, how lovely.
@slembcke Christmas decorations are just going up earlier and earlier every year.

@slembcke wonderful

i'm one of those people whose brain kind of shuts down for the Main Street Electrical Parade (in a good way) at Disneyland and this is hitting some of the same buttons <3

@slembcke They're so excited to be going home!
@slembcke I had a sudden mental image of someone prancing around town with a boombox on their shoulder playing flute music while an army of animated traffic barriers skipped along behind them.
@slembcke oh yeah I could sit there and watch them for quite awhile
@slembcke "in unison" looks pretty sporadic to me, but still really cool!
@slembcke ”They're moving in herds. They do move in herds.”
@slembcke I wonder what neuropsychology says about why humans get mesmerised by seemingly random flashy things. This, sunlight reflecting off ripples in water, leaves trembling in a light breeze, schools of shiny fish, etc. I wonder if it's related to photosensitive epilepsy.
@slembcke Would love to see a themed version for Christmas
@slembcke Omphalotus olearius -- do not eat!!
@slembcke don't they... have off switches?!?
@acm_redfox Nah, they had little solar panels on them to charge them. Presumably they just run every night until dead as they were like that every day for a week until I finally stopped and took the video.
@slembcke These are actually a type of traffic barrier shaped firefly! The males stand together & blink to impress females.
@slembcke this particular bit of a GeoCities Homepage is going to be soooo under construction 🚧🚨
@slembcke my neurons when i have to focus on a single task