> Order from chaos! And without any external source of energy.
It's important to understand that a physical system will seek its lowest energy level, and in this experiment, all pendulums synchronized is a lower kinetic energy level than unsynchronized.
> I wonder what other physical phenomena emerge this way.
There are many. A classic example is a phase-locked loop, in which a local oscillator will fall naturally into synchronization with a remote signal source. Again, the synchronized energy level is lower than unsynchronized.
It's important to say that, if it went the other way, if unsynchronized represented a lower energy level, getting synchronization would be very difficult.
It's important to understand that a physical system will seek its lowest energy level, and in this experiment, all pendulums synchronized is a lower kinetic energy level than unsynchronized.
> I wonder what other physical phenomena emerge this way.
There are many. A classic example is a phase-locked loop, in which a local oscillator will fall naturally into synchronization with a remote signal source. Again, the synchronized energy level is lower than unsynchronized.
http://arachnoid.com/phase_locked_loop
It's important to say that, if it went the other way, if unsynchronized represented a lower energy level, getting synchronization would be very difficult.