Next Generation of Algorithms Inspired by Ants 106
letsurock writes "Ants' capability to find the shortest route through a maze in an hour, and to find the second shortest route when the first path was obstructed, has inspired researchers creating algorithms for the future. From the article: 'Finding the most efficient path through a busy network is a common challenge faced by delivery drivers, telephone routers and engineers. To solve these optimization problems using software, computer scientists have often sought inspiration from ant colonies in nature — creating algorithms that simulate the behavior of ants who find the most efficient routes from their nests to food sources by following each other's volatile pheromone trails. The most widely used of these ant-inspired algorithms is known as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO).'"
Old news? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Really not new (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, sorry, but what the fuck? Slashdot had a story about the "discovery" of ACO a few months back, there was a similar one a year or two prior also, now it's been "discovered" again? How can something from the 90s be "Next Generation". How many times do we have to have stories on ACO? It's been around so so long, it's taught in undergraduate AI classes across the world.
Perhaps Slashdot needs to create it's own ant inspired algorithm to handle submissions because at least ants probably wouldn't post a story about the same god damn thing all the time.
I'm just waiting for them to "discover" particle swam optimisation or similar so we can have stories discovering that every few months too.