Leafcutter ants have to contend with many things on their daily commute – lugging enormous bits of plant is a fairly gruelling example – but traffic jams aren’t one of them. When two opposite streams of the insects meet in a narrow space, they instinctively (and selflessly) change their behaviour to avoid a gridlock.The scientists studying leafcutters say that if we were prepared to give control of our cars to a central network based on the ants' behaviour, congestion and road accidents would become a thing of the past. It sounds like a great idea to me, but then I'm not a driver...
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3 comments:
I think the key word here is "selflessly". Given how obsessed some drivers are with getting just a few meters ahead at any cost, I think we will be living with traffic jams for a while yet.
I agree. And that's why the scientists suggest taking control of vehicles away from individual egos and running it centrally for the greater good. It'll be a hard job persuading people, though.
As a driver, I think this is a good idea, but it would mean that we would all have to do the speed limit and I know some drivers would hate that. And if we all drove smoothly and at the speed limit it would be good for the environment too.
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