Online Desk: Ants can walk home backwards using just the sun and their memories as a guide, according to new research.
Famed for their work ethic, a study has discovered the navigational skills of ants are more sophisticated than previously thought.
And the surprising discovery could inspire a new generation of robots using mechanisms of the ant's brain, which is smaller than a pinhead.
Ants can walk home backwards using just the sun and their memories as a guide, according to new research. Famed for their work ethic, a study has discovered the navigational skills of ants are more sophisticated than previously thought
Ants can walk home backwards using just the sun and their memories as a guide, according to new research. Famed for their work ethic, a study has discovered the navigational skills of ants are more sophisticated than previously thought
The insects, which walk backwards when carrying heavy loads of food, find their way to the nest from the position of the sun and their visual knowledge.
Ants were known to use both processes but, until now, these were assumed to be two separate reflexes that required them to be facing in their direction of travel.
Instead, scientists have shown ants walking backwards will occasionally look behind them to check their surroundings, and use this information to set a course relative to the sun's position.
In this way, the insects can maintain their course towards the nest regardless of which way they are facing.