Stanford biologist and computer scientist discover the 'Anternet'

well i have said that the ants are super geniuses,
and now i guess you could call them internet geeks too,

A collaboration between a Stanford ant biologist and a computer scientist has revealed that the behavior of harvester ants as they forage for food mirrors the protocols that control traffic on the Internet.

source

it would look like ants designed the pre cursor to TCP/IP millions of years before we created the same thing but with computers and wires instead of hormones and smells.

On the surface, ants and the Internet don't seem to have much in common. But two Stanford researchers have discovered that a species of harvester ants determine how many foragers to send out of the nest in much the same way that Internet protocols discover how much bandwidth is available for the transfer of data. The researchers are calling it the "anternet."

so al gore didnt desgin the net after all,
the super geniuses that are ants did it first, by co-operation

"Ants have discovered an algorithm that we know well, and they've been doing it for millions of years," Prabhakar said.

They also found that the ants followed two other phases of TCP. One phase is known as slow start, which describes how a source sends out a large wave of packets at the beginning of a transmission to gauge bandwidth; similarly, when the harvester ants begin foraging, they send out foragers to scope out food availability before scaling up or down the rate of outgoing foragers.

Another protocol, called time-out, occurs when a data transfer link breaks or is disrupted, and the source stops sending packets. Similarly, when foragers are prevented from returning to the nest for more than 20 minutes, no more foragers leave the nest.

Prabhakar said that had this discovery been made in the 1970s, before TCP was written, harvester ants very well could have influenced the design of the Internet.

so we mimic ants foraging behaviour on our networks,
wounder if we could copy more parts of their society,
and survive millions of years like they do?

So ant algorithms have to be simple, distributed and scalable – the very qualities that we need in large engineered distributed systems," she said. "I think as we start understanding more about how species of ants regulate their behavior, we'll find many more useful applications for network algorithms."

i might start ant watching to see if they have an attack proof defence strategy,
so that i may design the perfect firewall



off to watch some ants

xploder

So what?

All they are saying is that the behavior of ants resembles the way the internet works. No big deal. You had to know ants can communicate in some way. I see roaches do this all the time.

This is how the government throws money away for so called scientists researching stuff that gives us more useless knowledge.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
So what?

All they are saying is that the behavior of ants resembles the way the internet works. No big deal. You had to know ants can communicate in some way. I see roaches do this all the time.

This is how the government throws money away for so called scientists researching stuff that gives us more useless knowledge.

No, the way the internet works resembles ant behavior. There's a huge difference. Just like the way a plane flies resembles bird aerodynamics etc. If it weren't for the scientists researching 'this stuff' we would be far less advanced as society.

So give it up for the ants will ya

The government built the ants.

yes..

and here's the ant nest

The TCP/IP protocol is also a mirror of how DNA communicate in cellular mechanisms.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
I see roaches do this all the time.

All the time, hun? Must suck to live in your neighborhood.

RE: the OP....very interesting. This calls into question, to me, the ability to claim "intellectual rights" to technological concepts. The one thing that is for certain: math is math, and no one "invents" any kind of math. Math is math, it was invented by the universe. We all just use it

Kind of like Apple claiming copyright on "Slide to unlock" features. Slide to unlock doors have been around since before biblical times. The doorknob is a fancy variation on the concept.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
So what?

All they are saying is that the behavior of ants resembles the way the internet works. No big deal. You had to know ants can communicate in some way. I see roaches do this all the time.

This is how the government throws money away for so called scientists researching stuff that gives us more useless knowledge.

You're ignorant. Our internet resembles the way ants communicate. Not the other way around, ya dingus.

Originally posted by Exitt

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
So what?

All they are saying is that the behavior of ants resembles the way the internet works. No big deal. You had to know ants can communicate in some way. I see roaches do this all the time.

This is how the government throws money away for so called scientists researching stuff that gives us more useless knowledge.

No, the way the internet works resembles ant behavior. There's a huge difference. Just like the way a plane flies resembles bird aerodynamics etc. If it weren't for the scientists researching 'this stuff' we would be far less advanced as society.

So give it up for the ants will ya

Yeah, give it up for nature which we derive all technology from in abstract ways. Look at a car, 4 wheels, two headlights, a body, an engine and an exhaust system. Like an quadraped. If you look at a car head on, you'll even see a face made from the headlights and grill. Some even smile, or sneer or just have a dumbfounded look. LOL

I wonder if this could qualify in some respects as an example of Convergent Evolution; where two unrelated lineages develop similar traits/strategies.

Perhaps ants are the very pinnacle of evolution, and we're all just ants waiting to happen?
I mean, look at all this social network emphasis, and the greater prevalence of homogenous trending across social networks effecting societal behaviorisms.

Yup. We're all becoming ants.

Excellent post, OP! There are actually people who still believe that ants are merely robots and not conscious beings. They're obviously highly analytical beings.

If wasps evolved from ants and the internet resembles ant behavior would that mean the future internet will resemble wasp behavior? Swarms of flying wifi repeaters??? Not sure wasp behavior would benefit the internet, in fact I have no idea what they do other than sting the S#¿T out of you lol.


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Originally posted by strafgod
If wasps evolved from ants and the internet resembles ant behavior would that mean the future internet will resemble wasp behavior? Swarms of flying wifi repeaters??? Not sure wasp behavior would benefit the internet, in fact I have no idea what they do other than sting the S#¿T out of you lol.

 

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In the coming age of big brother, I can imagine your scenario being not as far fetched as you might believe.

Matter of fact, it would make for an outstanding novel. Matter of fact, The Matrix may have already kind of done that.

Reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

Lol well there goes that idea of becoming rich..


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reply to post by InfiniteConsciousness

Considering both arose independently of one and other, both perspectives are legitimate.

Originally posted by InfiniteConsciousness
Excellent post, OP! There are actually people who still believe that ants are merely robots and not conscious beings. They're obviously highly analytical beings.

This isn't the same as high-level thinking or conscious activity, it is instinctual behaviour "developed" over time through evolution.

Originally posted by john_bmth

Originally posted by InfiniteConsciousness
Excellent post, OP! There are actually people who still believe that ants are merely robots and not conscious beings. They're obviously highly analytical beings.

This isn't the same as high-level thinking or conscious activity, it is instinctual behaviour "developed" over time through evolution.

That's a human conjectural perspective. There is no way for us to know anything about what goes on in the mind of an ant. Just because we observe something and make assumptions doesn't bear out any real truth on the matter. Take quantum physics for example.

Originally posted by InfiniteConsciousness

That's a human conjectural perspective. There is no way for us to know anything about what goes on in the mind of an ant. Just because we observe something and make assumptions doesn't bear out any real truth on the matter.

It's baseless speculation akin to asserting that birds need figure out the science behind aerodynamics before they can fly. Correlation != causation.

Take quantum physics for example.

I'm not following. Can you expand on this?

reply to post by XPLodER


What a stupid thread.

It's like saying monkeys invented the tv show Tarzan because they
Swung from trees in the jungle.

Although this is fascinating, don't over think this. These ants are only doing what is the most naturally efficient method of gathering food in order to survive. Just like electricity will naturally take the path of least resistance. TCP/IP communication is not that difficult to understand, as far as the theory behind how it works. By design, it works in the most efficient and logical manner. Granted, at first it probably didn't, but as time has gone on, people have discovered new and more efficient methods of communicating over a network through trial and error, and I'm sure these ants did the same thing over time. Check back with the ants in a few hundred years and they will probably be faster and even more efficient.