To flow, they moved around, rearranging themselves in the group, acting like a thick fluid. When the aggregation struggled to keep its shape, the ants clung to each other, acting like an elastic solid — rubber for example.Read more about the research at The New york Times.
The research could have practical implications, Dr. Hu said, for self-assembling robots, which build themselves out of smaller bits and for self-healing materials.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Physics of Ants
Are
ants solid, or a fluid? Ants clinging together in a ball act
differently from an individual insect. Banded together, they change
their nature. Ants are now being studied by physicists, namely Zhongyang
Liu and David Hu of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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