Ants That Can Count 162
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the ants-plus-math-equals-doom dept.
from the ants-plus-math-equals-doom dept.
thisIsOdd writes "NPR had a recent report about scientists at the University of Ulm who suggest that ants in desert environments count to help them get to and from their homes. Because the desert's windiness and sandiness is not conducive the 'smell-trail' method, where ants squeeze certain glands that leave a chemical trail, scientists were puzzled by the fact that these desert ants were able to leave and successfully return to their nest. The theory is called the 'pedometer theory,' and the experiment used to test it involves manipulating the leg length of some of these ants. Ants with longer legs would pass the nest on the way home, and ones with shorter legs came up... well... short."
Just had to do it. (Score:4, Funny)
So did I :( (Score:2, Funny)
Especially when you think how similar to us ants really are. I mean, when I read:
ants squeeze certain glands that leave a chemical trail
I went "I can do that too!"
Re:I felt a pang... (Score:4, Funny)
I'll, too, admit that the thought of having my limbs chopped makes me a bit antsy...
Re:I heard one of the ants in the experiment speak (Score:4, Funny)
That's got to be awful confounding... I bet the poor thing is stumped!
Sounds like frogs ... (Score:5, Funny)
To determine how what proportion each leg contributed to a frog's jumping distance, a scientist trained a frog to jump on command. He then measured the distance with all legs, and remeasured after successively removing one leg at a time.
His conclusion: that since the frog, with all legs removed, did not jump after hearing the command, that the frog was now deaf.
I wonder... (Score:1, Funny)
How do these scientists at the University of Ulm get to and from their homes when the ants are not counting for them?
Re:god, that name! (Score:5, Funny)
True masters of the Earth (Score:4, Funny)
avoid the "pom" word on Net (Score:5, Funny)
> He could as well go "Pom, pom, pom"
Everyone who saw "P o r n, P o r n, P o r n", please raise your hands?.... Thought so!
Re:I felt a pang... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:avoid the "pom" word on Net (Score:3, Funny)
Looks like you've got a naughty kerning algorithm...
Re:This doesn't prove ants can count (Score:4, Funny)
These six-legged insects count in base 6, of course.