Consider the ant and be wise – what can humans learn from ants?

Noa Pinter-Wollman Professor / UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Computational and Systems Biology

Ants form incredibly successful social systems. Over millions of years they have evolved the ability to construct intricate nests, cultivate crops, build bridges and rafts, and herd other animals; just to name a few exciting collective behaviors that ants accomplish. Inspired by ant behavior, humans have developed new computer algorithms, building architectures, and robot swarms. In my talk, I will survey the fascinating ways in which ant societies operate and the exciting lessons that we, humans, can learn from them.

Recommended grade levels for this talk: 3rd-5th