Natures wonders: ant colony complexity (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 10:07 (3319 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: The more tunnel connections, the more food they gather:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151020144834.htm-QUOTE: "A UC San Diego study of the underground "architecture" of harvester ant nests has found that the more connected the chambers an ant colony builds near the surface entrance, the faster the ants are able to collect nearby sources of food.-DAVID: Great societal cooperation-Indeed, and yet another example of the astonishing intelligence exhibited by these tiny creatures. And perhaps yet another analogy for how cells may cooperate intelligently to create intricate complexities.-QUOTE: 'After a prolonged drought like the one we're experiencing in California, severe storms, such as those anticipated later this year, could cause flooding and destroy these upper structures," she said. "It would be interesting to see if, after the predicted El Niño, harvester ants build deeper chambers than they have in previous years."'-That will be a good test. I predict that they will go deeper, thus illustrating how organisms of all shapes and sizes learn from experience, store information and process it prior to taking their decisions: all characteristics of autonomous intelligence.