As a little midget I was always fascinated by animals. I was basically your insect hunter searching for everything from butterflies, to frogs, to fireflies, to lady bugs, to bees and ants. I would get out my net and my insect containers, and binoculars and start the hunt. My parents never liked when I caught the bees...they typically did the catch and release on those!
Nonetheless I once got an ant farm. It was green with the farm, and sand in it. Ants came separate and we feed them into the farm through this straw-like contraption one day and they lived their lives in there. We (my brother and I) would feed them muffins and other sorts on occasion. Ant Farms these days are even cooler:
I was always fascinated with the way they built their tunnels and the way that everyone had their own thing going on and knew exactly what to do in this farm. Was it luck? Was it GOD? Or are they simply smarter animals than I thought? -- At the time I wasn't ever sure.
I decided to solve my childhood question with some research as it seemed like the collegiate thing to do. So I searched online and learned that scientists have discovered how the humble wood ant navigates over proportionally huge distances, using just very poor eyesight and confusing and changing natural landmarks. The research could have significant benefits in the development of autonomous robots and in furthering our understanding of basic animal learning processes.
Scientists at the
Ants are simple animals with a unique ability to navigate and work with the queen ants on the tasks that need to be accomplished. Just shows how this world needs women to run it too :)
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