They are some of the most amazing architects in nature, but how do ants know what and where to build? It took geologist Dr Nicholas Minter, archaeologist, Dr Kate Robson Brown, biologist Professor Nigel Franks and a high-resolution CT scanner to come up with the answer. The CT scanner allowed the team to observe individual nests on multiple occasions, as they were being excavated. It seems the architecture is controlled by both environmental and social factors: the structure of the sediment through which they tunnel and the density of the population of ants.
Posted by Astrojenny
4 comments:
See "Ants" are clever people ;o) Love the wide collaboration to achieve this though - how it SHOULD be in science!
That was my favourite part of the story too. I love it when disparate disciplines come together to help solve a problem.
Ryan Geometry predicted this ;o)
Is there NOTHING your theory can't prove?? :)
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