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"Ants is a multi-player strategy game set on a plot of dirt with water for obstacles and food that randomly drops. Each player has one or more hills where ants will spawn. The objective is for players to seek and destroy the most enemy ant hills while defending their own hills. Players must also gather food to spawn more ants, however, if all of a player's hills are destroyed they can't spawn any more ants."

from the abstract: "Using a novel imaging and analysis technique on experimental data we estimated pheromone concentrations at all spatial positions in the experimental arena and at different times. Then we derived the response function of individual ants to pheromone concentrations by looking at correlations between concentrations and changes in speed or direction of the ants." [...] "agent based simulations based on the Weber's Law response function determined experimentally produced results compatible with those reported in the literature and reproduced the formation of trails."

Nice article!

for Tobi! nice analogy between the threat and the fast responding in human network

Yet another example of "because scientifically accurate title would sound sooo boring".

An ant raft stays on top of the water surface even when it is hardly pressed by a branch -- showing water repellency and buoyancy. What do Jell-O, toothpaste, and floating fire-ant rafts have in common?

It's a strategy the ants actually actively exploit in the wild: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A042J0IDQK4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r04kAnzgjR4

somebody showed such videos some years ago in one of our talks on swarm cooperation ... probably Tobias? or P. Dario? ... still impressive indeed

The algorithm that regulates the flow of ants is evolving toward minimizing operating costs rather than immediate accumulation.

Turns out even ants can profit from a siesta on a hot day and they use network security and repair mechanisms. Maybe there is still something undiscovered that we can apply for our own networks.

Just some ant suff again.

what strategies!!!

This is a video about a giant ant colony and the 3D structure of the nest. Amazing footage about one of a superorganism.

more ants ....

Looks like good business. Tobias?

Ants found in the Pacific islands of Fiji behave as miniature farmers, carefully sowing and fertilising the seeds of at least six types of plant, a study said Monday.

shit ... they discovered biomimicry ... what's next?

For all those who don't belive it...

Crazy ants.

You guys could like this....

Amazing!

Cool ant pictures

Tobias, please check this paper if you have not already read it ... looks very interesting to me (LS)

Definitely an intersting book about superorganisms (bees, ants, etc) by the two masters Bert Hoelldobler and EO Wilson.