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Ants Use Pedometers to Find Home
Ant writes "New Scientist (a short video clip included) reports that desert ants have an internal pedometer that keeps track of how many steps they take, according to a new study. The insects seem to rely on this system to find their way back to the nest after foraging. Other insects may also possess this pedometer-like system. Some types of ants appear to use visual cues or leave scent trails to find their way home. But desert ants have a remarkable ability to retrace their steps from their nesting site even though they travel on flat terrain that is devoid of landmarks, and any odors quickly fade in the hot temperatures."
Wouldn't it be fun to give the ants little shoes to make their legs longer? That would screw 'em up pretty good.
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I thought this was a really cool paper too, and it would be really interesting to know in greater detail how exactly they count their steps.
:)
And if some alien race comes down to do the experiment on us, I hope they attach stilts to my legs rather than creating stumps out of them.
Are you BioCurious?
But it involves massive amounts of alcohol for it to work properly.
Commenly called the beer scooter, it is a mechanism that guides you safley home to your bed, no matter how far away or how drunk you get. Its side effects can be unfortunate though as unexplained cuts and bruises plus a bank account severly depleted of funds are commen occurances upon awakening.
One of the few zoological fields were you can chop off your subjects legs without needing to sign any legal paperwork!
I for one welcome our new giant ant overlords
... I learned from SimAnt
"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus
What if I find one of these ants on its way home and I pick it up and move it back a few meters (or feet), would it therefore be forever destined to wander the Earth? Or will it just create a new home a few meters (or feet) from the original?
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
but I just use ~
"Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
Does this mean that Ants are smarter than early versions of Windows ?
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
I'm wondering which drug you have to take to come up with the idea to tie stilts onto ants? This just sounds like something a drunk guy would come up with, except that that normally ends with someone loosing some fingers and teeth, not a scientific article. Of course, both results have the same attractive results with women.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
On the serious side,
1. The ants are decades ahead of us in pedometer miniaturization.
2. They've managed to keep their advanced technology secret for years.
3. They finally revealed it only after brutal mutilation.
These three facts together should give us pause.
Play Command HQ online
We dont need no pedometers. We dont need no leg control. Hey, researcher! leave those ants alone!
I have an ant problem in my house this week. I'm finding themin 3 different rooms meandering around. I was going to buy some ant killer after work today -- something in order of the stuff where they walk in it, take it back their hive, and infect the whole place. It appears now all I have to do is shout "4! 12! 37!" and they'll lose count and never get back home anyhow....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Evolution is an existing, observable process. That things evolved is a contentious proposition.
Sort of like the presumptuous notion that mountains and valleys were formed by geological processes and not some other phenomena that, unknown to humanity, happen to produce mountains and valleys as well.
Yeah. But have you ever seen an ant's brain? Try doing the same things a robot does on something as primitive as an ant's brain, and I'd REALLY be impressed.
Heck, most of my coworkers have brains TWICE as big as an ant's, and have a hard time with spacial orientation.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
"Three-hundred seventy-thousand, five-hundred and three ..." ..." ..."
... waitaminute.. DAMMIT!"
"Three-hundred seventy-thousand, five-hundred and four
"Three-hundred seventy-thousand, five-hundred and five
"Oh hey Joe, how's foraging?"
"Can't complain. Did you catch the game last night? Eight to one baby, totally blew the spread!"
"Eight to one, yeah that was pretty insane. Well, gotta get back to the grind."
"See ya in the tunnels."
"Three-hundred seventy thousand, eight-hundred and one
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.