Natures wonders: ant rafts and towers (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Thursday, July 13, 2017, 05:56 (2688 days ago) @ David Turell

..
"The sinking was confirmed by X-ray videography. The researchers fed some of the ants radioactive food, then threw the colony in an X-ray machine across campus in Professor Dan Goldman's physics lab. Cameras again recorded the critters building a tower. Using time-lapse photography, they watched the radioactive insects walk up the sides, gradually sink to the tower's depths, leave the pile, then continually repeat the process for hours."

Comment: A very solid study. The colony is not one giant brain.

Perhaps more importantly, does this mechanism allow for a sort of shift work cycle that allows ants to rest. They start at the top, taking little strain, building up to taking their share of the distributed weight of the full tower, then get a break as they exit into the tunnels, probably grab a bite to eat, and then go back for another shift.

--
What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.