Strange world: Crowd control

UNDERSTANDING how crowds behave like flocks of sheep or birds could help in the management of large groups of people in emergencies, scientists say.

Researchers at Leeds University believe their studies into how large numbers of individuals subconsciously follow just a small minority in a group could have important practical applications, especially in the management of disaster situations.

The team, led by Professor Jens Krause, conducted a series of experiments, in which volunteers were told to walk randomly around a large hall without talking to each other. A select few were then given more detailed instructions.

The results show that it takes a minority of just 5 per cent to influence a crowd's direction. The remaining 95 per cent follow without realising it.

Prof Krause, from the university's faculty of biological sciences, said: "There are many situations where this information could be used to good effect. At one extreme, it could be used to inform emergency planning strategies and at the other, it could be useful in organising pedestrian flow in busy areas."

He said that in all the experiments, the "informed individuals" were followed by the crowd who formed a "a self-organising, snake-like structure".