ants on stilts and Harry Porter's Relay Computer

[eub]

Stilts confirm ants count their paces

Drs Matthias Wittlinger and Harald Wolf at University of Ulm, Germany, and Prof Rudiger Wehner in Zurich, altered the legs on a group of ants to test the idea that they use stride length [count, that is, times imagined length].

Some had pig bristles glued on to their legs, while others had legs shortened by amputation.

First some marched on normal legs to a feeder, where they were placed on stilts and sent home.

The stiltwalkers misjudged the 10-metre distance back and overshot the nest entrance.

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Harry Porter's Relay Computer, and more, including the chitinous clattering of relay mouthpart^Hs. (Actually it's much like a sewing machine.)

Oh, poo: Main Memory (32K x 8bits, static RAM chip).

Comments

[cheesepuppet.livejournal.com]

Shortened by amputation? PIG BRISTLES? Science is a cruel mistress.

I misread that subject line to be "Harry Potter's Relay Computer," and coupled with the ants, thought you were giving away secrets from the new book or something.

I went to Harry Porter-not-Potter's page and I haven't a single clue what that giant thing does, but I'm finding Harry to be pretty sexy.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Hermione designs the computer, but Harry gets the glory.

[cheesepuppet.livejournal.com]

And he's at PSU! I could have been IN THE SAME BUILDING WITH HIM when I went to school there!

[hattifattener]

Static RAM chip! Cheating!

Should have used mercury delay lines. (But how do you couple that back into the relay stuff? A coherer?)

I hear you can build a delay-line memory out of iron wire, like coathanger or baling wire, using torsion instead of compression or whatever the mercury lines used.

[eub.livejournal.com]

I'd go for a computer with tape-loop memory.

[eub.livejournal.com]

or out of pre-laid trails of ant pheromones with an ant-crane write head.

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http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/behavior/Army_Ant_Traffic_Flow.pdf
Self-organized lane formation and optimized traffic flow in army ants

[dgr.livejournal.com]

that's pretty sweet research, but i'm really glad i'm not the guy who has to glue pig hairs to ant legs.