Researchers of Kobe University in Japan realised that when two swarms of crabs collide, they merge and continue in a direction that is the sum of their velocities. This behaviour means the researchers could adapt a previous model of unconventional computing, based on colliding billiard balls, to work with swarms of crabs, with 0s and 1s represented by the absence or presence of a swarm.

They first tried the idea with simulated crab swarms. The OR gate, which simply combines one or two crab swarms into one, worked every time, but the more complicated AND gate, which involves the combined swarm heading down one of three paths, was less reliable.

They then tried the logic gates for real, using swarms of 40 crabs. The crab swarms were placed at the entrances of the logic gates and encouraged to move by a looming shadow that fooled them into thinking a predatory bird was overhead. The results closely matched the simulation, suggesting that crab-powered computers could indeed be possible.