When Ants Go Marching, They Count Their Steps, Amazing discoveries!
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Over the years, scientists have proposed several theories for how ants find their way home.
One is that they do it like honeybees and remember visual cues, but experiments revealed ants can navigate in the dark and even blindfolded. Another disproved hypothesis was that because ants scurry at a steady pace, they could time how long it took them to get to and from. Other studies have shown that once ants find a good source of food, they teach other ants how to find it.
Scientists trained desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, to walk along a straight path from their nest entrance to a feeder 30 feet away. If the nest or feeder was moved, the ants would break from their straight path after reaching the anticipated spot and search for their goal.
Next, the researchers performed a little cosmetic surgery.
They glued stilt-like extensions to the legs of some ants to lengthen stride. The researchers shortened other ants' stride length by cutting off the critters' feet and lower legs, reducing their legs to stumps.
By manipulating the ants' stride lengths, the researchers could determine whether the insects were using an odometer-like mechanism to measure the distance, or counting off steps with an internal pedometer.
The ants on stilts took the right number of steps, but because of their increased stride length, marched past their goal. Stump-legged ants, meanwhile, fell short of the goal.
After getting used to their new legs, the ants were able to adjust their pedometer and zero in on home more precisely, suggesting that stride length serves as an ant pedometer.
The study is detailed in the June 30 issue of the journal Science.
http//www.livescience.com/animals//060629_ant_pedometers.html
See Also
Why Ants Rule the World
http//www.livescience.com/animalworld/060508_mm_ants_rule.html
Ant School The First Formal Classroom Found in Nature
http//www.livescience.com/animalworld/060111_ant_lessons.html
Wow!
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Peace to all,
Thanks for the links Dargento, I have always thought that the ants were amazing creatures and that we have a lot we can learn from them. I remember reading some studies on there method of combat and what lessons we can draw from them , it too was amazing, did you find any videos of their fighting tactics to post for us?
Kurt
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Peace Kurt,
My honor...Okay here are some
Ant bridge. This nearly brought me to tears Just amazing.
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6066545769494521621&q=ants&total=27714&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
Ants take on a sting ray (music sux, might want to lower the volume)
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4863571563460628216&q=ants+combat&total=59&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
Red ants vs. black ants (Brutal! )
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4863571563460628216&q=ants+combat&total=59&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
Soldier Ants - protecting their territory (very very informative)
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4252760523216629528&q=soldier+ants&total=155&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
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Peace,
That is sick and evil that they did that to the ants. May they be punished for that >( May they suffer 100x fold in the next life if they pursue this lifestyle.
However, its really amazing how much these creatures act, when we try to dissociate ourselves from the rest of nature. Im not sure if Ill watch the videos where they fight each other, kind of sad, but I know its just a way for nature to keep it's balance and not malice. But all of them taking on a stingray? Wow there must be a lot of them!
Peace
EDIT I Saw the stingray video and it was a spider? Pretty sad that people feel the need to experiment like this. Just leave nature to do its own work. Im sure they wouldn't like it if I put a lion in their room. People make me sick.
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Im sure they wouldn't like it if I put a lion in their room. People make me sick.
rotflYeah it's sad. Reminds me of rooster fighting! and bull fighting! and animal testing for cosmetic products! and other animals for science expiraments. Very cruel. Makes you wonder why did Allah make animals "feel" things!
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rotfl
Yeah it's sad. Reminds me of rooster fighting! and bull fighting! and animal testing for cosmetic products! and other animals for science expiraments. Very cruel. Makes you wonder why did Allah make animals "feel" things!
Well maybe Allah wants us to treat animals kindly, The quran often talks about corrupters of the earth. Maybe destroying nature and mistreating animals is what this corrupters of the earth is all about.
salaam,