[HN Gopher] The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges ...
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       The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges (2018)
        
       Author : silverkite
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2024-08-24 14:29 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.quantamagazine.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.quantamagazine.org)
        
       | wonderwonder wrote:
       | Always found colony based insects but especially ants
       | fascinating. Its as if the ant is not the organism but rather the
       | colony is.
        
         | senthil_rajasek wrote:
         | If you find Ants interesting you would probably like E.O.
         | Wilson's works. That's all he did his entire life, study ants.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Ants
        
           | SeanAnderson wrote:
           | E.O. Wilson's published work was read by Will Wright, creator
           | of SimCity / The Sims / SimAnt, and the material is what
           | inspired him to create SimAnt :)
           | 
           | Will has also stated that the pheromone system designed for
           | SimAnt was repurposed to be used in The Sims! Very
           | interesting stuff if you ask me :)
        
         | jsenn wrote:
         | Deborah Gordon (ant biologist) makes this argument in her book
         | Ant Encounters. Because the ants in a colony are all sisters,
         | the unit of reproduction is actually the colony rather than the
         | individual ant. Great book!
        
       | digging wrote:
       | It's a pretty cool finding, but a shallow article and arguably
       | clickbait.
       | 
       | > ... it's very possible there's more governing army ant behavior
       | than two simple rules.
       | 
       | Then don't say otherwise in the title!
        
         | EdwardCoffin wrote:
         | I read the article. I think that though it is relatively short,
         | it isn't shallow, and certainly isn't clickbait. They also
         | point to the paper the article draws from if you want more.
         | 
         | >> ... it's very possible there's more governing army ant
         | behavior than two simple rules.
         | 
         | >Then don't say otherwise in the title!
         | 
         | The title constrains the rules to those dictating bridge
         | building, whereas the quoted caveat above is more general.
        
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       (page generated 2024-08-27 23:00 UTC)