"Harvester ants access another algorithm to solve a different critical problem. If the ant foragers gather too much food, they clog pathways and food storage chambers, as well as waste time and energy. If they forage too little, the ant colony starves. A balance is required, and an ant algorithm supplies it. Stored somewhere in the ant, this data-processing software governs their foraging frequency.
Researchers discovered that this ant algorithm closely matches the one that programmers wrote to regulate Internet traffic. The algorithm uses two formulae:
The algorithm relates at least three critical variables:
the rate of outgoing foragers,
the amount that the rate increases with each returning ant,
and the amount that the rate decreases with each outgoing ant.
Researchers discovered that this ant algorithm closely matches the one that programmers wrote to regulate Internet traffic. The algorithm uses two formulae:
- αn = max(αn-1-qDn-1+cAn-d,α), α0 = 0
- Dn~Poisson (αn)
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
"Harvester ant colonies are able to decide how many foragers they need to send out of the nest by using a protocol system that's eerily similar to the one IT professionals use to determine how much bandwidth is available on the internet. This so-called "anternet" apparently proves that ant decision-making and behavior is regulated by a sophisticated set of algorithms.
The research was conducted by Stanford ant biologist Deborah Gordon and computer scientist Balaji Prabhakar, whose findings were recently published in PLOS. Prabhakar was brought on board to see if he could find any correlations between ant behavior and computer science. After some preliminary observations he quickly realized that the ants were essentially using the same algorithm that describes TCP, the Transmission Control Protocol. TCP is used to discover how much bandwidth is available for transferring a file. But instead of bandwidth, the ants are using their own version of TCP to determine how much food is available based on the reports coming back from foraging ants.
It's worth noting that harvester ants do not use pheromone trails, and that they transmit information to each other using their antennae.
Fascinatingly, the team speculates that, had IT developers discovered this ant algorithm during the 1970s, they very well might have used it to develop TCP. Moreover, they believe the ants have more to offer, and strongly suspect they could still teach us about the design of network systems. The researchers contend that each ant may be very basic in terms of its capacities, but that the collective is capable of forming incredibly complex and sophisticated tasks."
i09.com
