Biomimicry, a term originating from the word ... Computer scientists have exploited the ways of the ant to produce computational algorithms better able to solve complex problems.

What can the behaviour of ants, bees and rats teach us about the way humans navigate, organise and think? And what are the parallels between swarm intelligence and the 'wisdom of crowds'?

Ants have been around since the Cretaceous Period ... They can also help us boost our technology with biomimicry, from collective behavior that informs swarm robotics to neck joints that inspire ...

It was a masterful stroke of conscious evolution, but hardly a new one. Leaf-cutter ants tapped into sustainable agriculture some 50 million years before us. These busy little beasts spend their ...

Clint Penick thinks we could learn a lot from ants. Penick, an assistant research professor in the Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University, has been studying the capable creatures for 15 years.

social frontier for biomimicry. Schematics of two ant nests show differences in what’s called meshedness, or the availability of connections that join chambers (orange squares) in a loop.

These are just three of countless examples of biomimicry – technologies inspired by forms, processes and systems found in nature. The discipline is no longer just an academic exercise.

Biomimicry began to be systematically implemented ... It protects the seeds from cutter ants, impedes growth of invasive grasses, and stores water for dry periods. Image courtesy of Nucleário.

Ants have evolved extremely sophisticated behaviors ... By engaging in this form of biomimicry, the researchers have developed a similar algorithm, called SoSACO, that works by accelerating ...

Some worker ants are more equal than others. As with other social insects, it was once thought that workers were essentially equivalent in ant colony hierarchies. But it appears that a few well ...