Friday, November 18, 2011

current event- Why ants never lose their way

Why ants never lose their way
By Meera Dolasia 
source: web
10/31/2011


Researchers believe that ants always know where they are going and never seem to lose their way. The Technical University of Munich and Brazilian Center for Physics Research believe that they might have the answer. The say it has all to do with their in-build GPS system.  A scientist studied the behavior of  termite ants using sophisticated microscopes. They say that just like human-build GPS systems, they have magnets build into their antennas which help them navigate. While we rely on on huge expensive satellites, ants get their magnetic navigation from the minerals in the soil and the earth's magnetic field. The scientists say that while they are walking around, tiny mineral particles like iron oxide from the soil get stuck to their antennas. 

I believe this makes sense because ive played with ants before when i was small, and i would pick it up and out it in the grass and watch it, but it always seemed to go back the sane way where i had found the ant. 




1 comment:

  1. Did you notice that a lot of the things that we have now are aimed at biodesign?

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