Ants are great tunnelers. They can dig several meters underground, and the structures built can last for decades and house millions of these tiny creatures. But how do they do it? To answer this question, José Andrade and his fellow researchers decided to observe some ants in action.
[They] set up miniature ant colonies in a container holding 500 millilitres of soil and 15 western harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis). The position of every ant and every grain of soil was then captured by high-resolution X-ray scans every 10 minutes for 20 hours.
The team found that as the ants removed the soil grain by grain, they formed "arches" in the soil. These said "arches" reduced the forces on the tunnel's surface, which enabled the ants to extend the tunnel without worrying about cave-ins. The researchers believed that ants developed this simple behavioral algorithm through time.
“In a remarkable way – in a rather, you know, serendipitous way – they’ve stumbled upon a technique for digging that is in line with the laws of physics, but incredibly efficient,” says Andrade.
The researchers believe their findings can have applications in the deadly mining industry.
Learn more about this study over at New Scientist.
Ants are indeed nothing short of amazing.
(Image Credit: Caltech)
(Video Credit: New Scientist via YouTube)