Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #03399



To: "Steven Bolt" sbolt@xs4all.nl
From: "Nigel Joyce" nigel.joyce@qr.com.au
Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 09:02:41 +1000
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Ants, Web site & (Ian?)


I was just thinking that ants antenna's are basically (very basically)
sticks they wave around with the sensors on the ends, why don't we try
something similar, how about the idea mentioned a couple of days ago by
Dennison using the microcore with .1uf Caps and the 1M resistors to wave
antenna around and we mount detectors on the ends, eg, thermisistors, IR,
etc. don't know how useful the result would be, but in our attempt to
simulate life, this seems to be along the right track.
Cya
Blue Skies
---Buzz---
>
> > Hey, I was just thinking about how I would go about recreating an ant. I
> > don't know allot about them but I was wondering about one thing in
> > particular. Ants have eyes right. And feelers. If they have eyes why do
> > the need feelers? (because they don't have very good vision right?) But
> > if they don't have very good vision why don't they just have feelers and
> > no eyes? If they do have good eyesight then why do the have feelers? How
> > do they communicate with each other?
>
> Even good eyes need tactile sensors as backup. Take your skin;
> every little bit of it is sensitive to touch and temperature.
>
> For ants, pheromones are very important; as a way to communicate and
> for using the environment as a kind of collective memory (pheromone
> trails). If I remember correctly, the antennae are most important
> for smelling and tasting.
>
> Best,
>
> Steve
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> # sbolt@xs4all.nl # Steven Bolt # popular science monthly KIJK #
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>


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