What ants can teach us about engineering

Aug 28, 2021

A colony of weaver ants build their nest from leaves in Kuala Lumpur January 31, 2009. Weaver ants get their name from their habit of binding fresh leaves with silk to form their nests. Their lifecycle spans a period of 8 to 10 weeks. REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim (MALAYSIA) - GM1E51V0XHH01

Ants construction techniques could have useful lessons for our own engineering projects. Image: REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim

Emily Velasco

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A casting of a nest made by a species of ant found in Florida next to an adult man for scale. Image: Charles F. Badland

By x-raying the ants as they worked, the researchers were able to create 3-D animations showing their progress. Image: Caltech

The steepest angle a granular material, in this case, sand, can be piled up before collapsing is known as the angle of repose. That angle can be seen in the slopes of this pile of sand. Image: Andy Arthur/Creative Commons

On the left, force chains are randomly distributed. On the right, the force chains have rearranged themselves to encapsulate a tunnel dug by the ant Image: Caltech

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