Ants Collective Intelligence Inspires Technology

we make money not art: Scientists are studying ants behaviour to help solve technical problems.
An ant can work out the quickest way from A to B more efficiently than a boffin with a computer. It bases its behaviour on pheromone trails laid down by its nest-mates. So now human communications networks are often based on virtual pheromone trails.
Nigel Franks, of the University of Bristol, keeps ant colonies in plastic boxes, and paints his ants different colours so he can watch what each one does.
“Army ant colonies are huge, so they have real traffic-flow problems, but it seems that evolution has programmed them with exactly the right rules of motorist behaviour so that they automatically form lanes.” (…) “the ants that are unburdened, that are running out to the swarm-front to find new prey-items, can run more quickly because they’re not carrying anything, and they form two express lanes on either side of the main trail, whereas all the ants coming back with food take a central lane.”
Ants Collective Intelligence Inspires Technology [we make money not art]