Higher, Higher, Ants of Fire

After a flood, thousands of homeless fire ants pile on top of one another to build bizarro towers with their own bodies — probably as temporary shelters. All the complex construction project needs is for each individual ant to follow a few simple rules, new research says. And, if wriggling ant towers weren’t nightmarish enough, this discovery could help engineer robot swarms that are even better at cooperating. Jeff and Anthony marvel at how this works, and imagine the robots it will spawn.

GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns

Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop

Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen.

Here’s the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And here’s the Stitcher link: http://bit.ly/stitcherwhconcerns

Or, you can send us mail! Our address:

We Have Concerns c/o WORLD CRIME LEAGUE 1920 Hillhurst Ave #425 Los Angeles, CA 90027-2706

Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata

Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni

Today’s story was sent in by Brian Towns: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/12/15959386/fire-ants-tower-construction-rafts-tovey-collective-behavior-science

If you’ve seen a story you think belongs on the show, send it to wehaveconcernsshow@gmail.com, post in on our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeHaveConcerns/ or leave it on the subreddit:http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcerns