Nowadays, medical implant manufacturers are asked to continually elevate their surface finish and profile accuracy standards, with medical implants more in demand than ever before. Kemet International Ltd has spent many years automating, developing, and perfecting precision surface finishing processes, specifically for the medical industry.
Surface finishing techniques play a major part in the development of both medical devices and orthopedic implants. For that essential shine, medical equipment needs to be finished efficiently - which is achieved by selecting the right surface finishing tool.
There is a high demand for dimensional accuracy within orthopedic implants, which can be achieved by using lapping and polishing processes. In order to achieve professional performance, medical devices also have intricate parts, such as blades, that need to be finished perfectly.
The risk in these devices - in terms of sharpness, roughness, dimensions, alignment, and so on - can be eliminated with this technique. Naturally, therefore, an accurate measurement is required, which can be provided courtesy of the surface finishing techniques mentioned above.
Kemet process development laboratories have successfully developed special-purpose polishing machines for a wide range of medical implants. The latest development from Kemet is the KemiSphere II: otherwise known as a bench top spherical/ball lapper/polisher, which can lap and polish spherical forms to more than five microns roundness with a mirror finish.
The process is simple and consists of two stages, offering an extremely economical and highly repeatable way of processing spherical forms to a wide variety of surface finishes. The system can also process a myriad of different materials either to be lapped as an individual component or to match lap spherical forms together.
Not only can the new product from Kemet process all joint sizes and materials up to 60 mm in diameter (or 100 mm with the floor-standing version), but Kemet also offers to demonstrate its process within its testing labs by producing test data and samples so that all questions can be answered prior to ordering a machine.
This also means that machines can be sent pre-programmed and ready for use regardless of their intended application.
When it comes to the manufacture of tibial trays and hips, most of the production costs are associated with process consumables and, as a manufacturer of these, Kemet is there to help reduce them.
More importantly, Kemet’s expertise in surface finishing allows the company to develop new processes and consumables while ensuring increased productivity and reduced cost per part.
The improvements to the process - be it less rework, faster throughput or lower consumption - tend to outweigh the cost associated with introducing new consumables.
The Kemet Tibial Polishing Cell has been specifically developed for finishing large production quantities of knee replacement parts, such as Tibial Trays. A typical cell contains Kemet smoothing, polishing and cleaning systems.
Manufacturers now have the added benefits of improved product quality, greatly reduced costs and faster production. All Kemet Polishing Systems, be they small manual processes or large fully automated cells, are serviced and supported by Kemet.
The company is also a key manufacturer of polishing consumables and can take full responsibility for all aspects of production relating to one of its finishing processes. At present, all of the process development work is being carried out free of charge.
A contributing factor to making the company a global leader in this technology is Kemet’s ability to develop, supply and support such processes. In addition to precision surface finishing, Kemet also offers:
Contact Kemet today to find out more about the solutions provided, or to arrange lapping or polishing trials.
Established in 1938, Kemet International Limited is at the forefront of precision lapping and polishing technology, using Diamond Compound and Diamond Slurry, which are manufactured in house to ISO 9001:2015 quality standards. We offer innovative solutions to operations which demand precision finish and close tolerance. Kemet's highly specialised and accurate lapping machines can machine a wide variety of materials for numerous applications.
Operating at the forefront of orthopaedic implant polishing technology for over 20 years, Kemet International Ltd has transformed the quality and cost of manufacture of tibial trays and hip heads/cups.
Kemet's process Laboratories are fully equipped with the latest range of Lapping Machines, Polishing Machines, Ultrasonic Cleaners, Mould Polishing and Metallographic & Geological thin sectioning Equipment to carry out tests on customers' samples. In addition, our team of industrial chemists are able to manufacture bespoke diamond lapping and diamond polishing compounds and diamond suspensions.
Let Kemet help you develop a new process, reduce costs or solve immediate technical problems. Kemet offer training courses covering all aspects of lapping and polishing in our Lapping Laboratories or at your own premises. Kemet International actively takes part in the leading Trade Shows and Exhibitions and have received many awards for our achievements internationally.
Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.
Increasing work demands and workplace stress levels can take a toll on your mental health. Employees may be unable to perform to their full potential and realise their life goals if they are experiencing such negative effects on their bodies and brains. Practising meditation at the workplace has many proven benefits like reduced stress and improved focus. Increased creativity, productivity and improved relationships with colleagues are some of the great results of meditation one can attain at work. According to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, mindfulness and meditation are the most effective ways in reducing work stress and poor mental health symptoms while creating a positive impact on employees’ mental well-being. (Also read: Tips to handle stress at workplace)
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Raman Mittal, Co-founder and meditation expert, Idanim, shared five effective meditation techniques that you can practice at work.
1. Mantra Meditation: Creating a positive aura around you in a difficult situation may work wonders. Think of a mantra or a motivating phrase and keep repeating it in your mind. It will act as a tool to help release tension in your mind and boost awareness. It can make a lot of difference, especially if you are having trouble concentrating or getting in the right frame of mind. Mantra chanting (or any conscious affirmations) also unblocks our energy flow and rejuvenates our mind and body.
2. Breathing Meditation: Do you feel anxious before a presentation or before meetings? Try deep breathing for five minutes. Deep breathing is one of the most effective methods to keep calm. Taking a deep breath enables more airflow in your body, which calms down your nerves, reducing stress and anxiety. So, next time you are in a stressful situation, start taking deep and conscious breaths and you will notice an immediate sense of relaxation.
3. Walking Meditation: There are times when you are in a stressful situation at work and you feel like running away from it. It is obvious that you cannot run away from work or leave it. However, taking a refreshing walk with awareness enables the human mind to observe things better. This help the mind and body to relax. I’m sure, this technique will definitely help you take a break from stressful working hours.
4. Body Scan: Have you been feeling unproductive lately or your mind keeps on wandering? Body scan meditation will help manage your physical and emotional feelings when you are overwhelmed, sad, or anxious. Pay attention to your whole body and how it feels, scanning from your feet to the top of your head in a slow and deliberate progression. This will help you relieve tension and return back to work mindfully. This the technique is a great health meditation way to relax your body and mind both at the same time.
5. Visualization Meditation: If you feel you need a little escape, a visualization exercise might be ideal. Think about where you’d go if you could be anywhere right now. It could be a bench in a peaceful garden or a sandy shore on a summer day. You might prefer a rock overlooking a waterfall in a forest. Now, set a timer for 5-10 minutes and enjoy the tranquillity of your place. Picture every detail - the sights, sounds, and smells. Enjoy the scenery. Let your mind wander to your happy place whenever you need to relax your mind during work.
Blue or Green screen. A simple way to prepare a live shot for post-production compositing is by using blue or green screens. The compositor takes the footage shot in front of a green or blue screen and uses a process called chroma keying to remove all of the blue or green from the scene to be transparent. Now the background can be replaced in post-production with anything the filmmaker wants.
Multiple exposures. A technique that combines different exposures or images that are layered on top of each other. The image overlaid is less than full opacity so a bit of both image can be seen producing an almost ghost-like image. Nowadays filmmakers often rely on CGI to do the same effect.
CGI. Thanks to technological improvements, computer-generated imagery has become the norm for many productions from period dramas to blockbusters. While often associated with the generation of 3D models of people, monsters, buildings, cars, explosions, and many other things, CGI can also be used to maintain consistent scenery, i.e. background environments full of buildings, people, and vehicles. Rather than being static scenes, these can then provide convincing animated backdrops for compositing
Rotoscoping. A technique used in animation to trace over live-action motion picture footage frame by frame. Filmmakers can create a matte used to extract an object from a scene to use on a different background.
Matting. As mentioned above, this is a process of extracting foreground (for example actors) and background (landscape) objects from the image. In essence, the compositor can choose which areas of the image should be visible and which should be transparent to blend these different sources of footage together.
Tags: Post & VFX
One of the best ways to go green is to travel in an electric vehicle. But while EVs are more popular than ever, most people still can't afford the hefty price tag.
For those who still drive combustion-engine cars, there are still ways to maximize your mileage for less money.
This technique is called hypermiling, a strategy to get every last mile out of a gallon of fuel. It is a prime example of eco-friendly driving in action.
Here are four hypermiling strategies you can use right now.
Related: The 5 Most Luxurious Electric Cars on the Market That Will Make You Want To Skip On Gas
The first step to hypermiling is getting your car set up for maximum efficiency. Using driving techniques will certainly help save fuel, but you're only halfway there if your vehicle is not maintained well.
First, have the car tuned up. This involves changing the sparkplugs, so this is an excellent opportunity to go with iridium-tipped "performance" ones that will be very efficient as creating the combustion. The result is more power while using less fuel for it and contributing fewer emissions.
You should also have an oil change done and switch to using synthetic motor oil if you aren't already. Synthetic oil is long-lasting so it will cost less over time, but, more importantly, it will increase the motor's efficiency and use less fuel as a result. Also, look for lightweight motor oil as it is easier for the engine to pump it, making for greater efficiency.
One of the most critical aspects of hypermiling is the condition of your tires. The key is how much of the rubber is in contact with the road.
They should be aligned properly so they wear evenly and have the proper contact with the road. Next, they should be properly inflated. You can Boost your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
When they are underinflated, too much contact with the road and friction will reduce fuel efficiency. On the other hand, overinflated tires cause a lot of drag and are dangerous when driving, in addition to reduced efficiency.
Constantly slowing down and speeding up is one of the worst ways to drive from fuel efficiency. Instead, try to use a steady speed without much variation. If you have cruise control, then using it when it makes sense will help.
You should also try to use your brakes less and just coast when you need to slow down. When you accelerate from a slow speed rather than a full stop, then you increase your efficiency. Keep your distance between other cars so you can roll at a slow pace rather than stop altogether.
Keep unnecessary items out of your vehicle, especially the heavy stuff that can weigh you down. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2 percent, says the U.S. Department of Energy.
Scientists from the University of Ghent say they have developed new techniques for assessing antibody stability during drug development to select formulations that minimize degradation during long-term storage. The methods aim to quickly predict which antibody formulations are likely to degrade over time due to aggregation.
“During formulation development, it’s helpful to predict which formulations are stable, without having to wait one or two years for real-time stability studies to find out,” explains Hristo Svilenov, PhD, an associate professor from the University of Ghent. “Our approach evaluates how the formulation conditions affect the aggregation of partially unfolded antibodies at temperatures relevant for long-term storage.”
When native antibodies unfold, the aggregation-prone parts of the protein are exposed and can form aggregates. These aggregates can increase the risk of immune reactions in patients or, if they become large enough to form visible particles, they can lead to the drug batch being discarded, Svilenov explains, adding that the team has developed new methods for predicting the aggregation of antibodies during storage in a faster manner.
These methods can be used during drug development to find, for example, the optimum formulations for storage, including the optimal buffer or other excipients. According to Svilenov, the techniques use common chemical denaturants, such as urea and guanidinium salts. These can be added to the antibodies to induce the formation of partially unfolded proteins and accelerate the aggregation to allow comparisons to be made on short timescales.
“We aim to develop predictive techniques that are simple so you don’t need special equipment—you can perform them with devices in every lab and our goal is that they can be used by anyone,” he says.
The techniques can also be used during biomanufacturing to compare production batches and ensure that the drug product has the same degradation profile. Svilenov says the team is now following up on this research by developing quantitative prediction tools to rank formulations and drug candidates by aggregation risk. They also aim to automate these methods and apply them to other biotherapeutics beyond antibodies.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Optica Foundation today issued details on the healthcare work being funded by its 20th Anniversary Challenge. This newly funded research will address the potential of Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy, accessibility and portability of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and applicability of Synthetic Wavelength Holography (SWH), a method to image through light-scattering materials like human skin.
“The field of imaging has benefited greatly from advances in photonics,” said Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh, ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Spain, and member of the 20th Anniversary Challenge Selection Committee. “The research being conducted by the challenge recipients strives to solve for today’s pain points in imaging, including efficiency and accessibility. We expect these efforts to lead to continued investigation and advancement in this critical field.”
Healthcare initiatives from the 20th Anniversary Challenge include the following:
Transparent Microparticle and Cancer Cell Imaging
To address shortcomings in current optical microscopy approaches, Hu’s research proposes using flat optical elements or metasurfaces to create smaller, more efficient, and more powerful systems. By leveraging silicon nanostructures as a foundation, the planned system will be set to perform multiple functionalities at one time, including the focusing phase, polarization multiplexing, and isotropic edge detection—all in 3-D— via a portable device that can potentially link up with standard consumer electronics.
“I’m trying to revolutionize existing microscopic techniques with new and advanced optical elements based on metasurfaces,” explains Hu. “It’s a new crossover, really merging microscopic imaging systems with metasurfaces.”
Hu has already conducted initial work on the fundamental limits and principals behind his approach and has developed designs to fabricate for testing. He plans to begin with a demonstration of the microscopy system, and within six months, Hu expects to operate the system on biological samples of cancer cells.
“The ultimate goal is that healthcare researchers and practitioners could have a module that they can even place on their mobile phone to image,” said Hu. “At the end of the day, the proposed single-shot, isotropic and miniaturized DIC system is portable and simple to operate, because it’s essentially just a very detailed lens.”
Portable OCT Platforms for Disease Detection
“My proposal is about developing a portable, low-loss OCT system prototype, based on silicon photonics, and more specifically, silicon nitride,” shared Ji. “This way, all of the elements of a traditional OCT system could be covered by a single platform, a whole system rather than single parts. If this idea succeeds, we will be able to reduce both the size and cost of OCT systems by orders of magnitude.”
Ji explained that his first step is to optimize the fabrication process, and then design the light source, interferometer and spectrometer components of the system. In three months, he hopes that they will demonstrate the low-loss platform that supports the system’s design, and by six months, they will be able to acquire OCT images. At the end of a year, Ji aspires to have a working prototype.
“What we are trying to do here is make OCT widely accessible. Once we have a miniaturized system, we can reduce costs to $1,000 or below per device. I can even imagine a day when you would have one at home, and you could transfer the images to the cloud so the doctor could review them, without having to go to the hospital, office, or clinic,” Ji said.
Precise Imaging through Living Tissue with Standard Camera Technology
“Our previously demonstrated method of Synthetic Wavelength Holography shows great potential for a multitude of medical imaging applications, but currently still requires a temporal sequence of images to ‘see’ through scattering media like tissue. If something moves during the acquisition of this temporal image sequence, the measurement fails. This makes the current method unfeasible for real-world medical applications, as living tissue is in constant movement,” said Willomitzer. “This new work addresses this problem by introducing an approach that enables precise SWH measurements with only one single camera image. The vision is to create an efficient and cost-effective imaging system which uses standard, off-the-shelf camera technology – theoretically even mobile phone cameras.”
Willomitzer will start by building on exact research that demonstrated the success of multi-shot SWH, refining the approach to function in a single-shot environment. In six months, he intends to have developed baseline criteria for his hypothesized one-shot approach, and then will evaluate its potential for real-world medical imaging applications, i.e., the imaging of small structures, such as capillaries, lesions, tumors, etc., through scattering media, such as tissue and bone.
“The proposed technique could have profound effects on future industries that go far beyond potential applications in medical imaging. Possible examples include applications in autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, industrial inspection, and many more,” Willomitzer concluded.
All three imaging research efforts are the result of grants awarded through the Optica Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Challenge. This challenge was designed to engage early-career professionals in out-of-the-box thinking and provide seed money to investigate hypotheses in the areas of environment, health and information. Each of the recipients received $100,000 USD to explore their ideas and take steps toward addressing critical global issues. Recipients have begun work on these projects and expect to report initial results by the second quarter of 2023. For more information and to follow their journeys, visit optica.org/foundationchallenge.
About Optica
Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement. Discover more at: Optica.org
About Optica Foundation
Established in 2002, the Optica Foundation carries out charitable activities in support of the society’s student and early career communities. We cultivate the next generation of leaders and innovators as they navigate advanced degree programs and become active members of research, engineering and business worldwide. The foundation also works to secure the endowments for Optica’s awards and honors programs. The foundation is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. For more information, visit optica.org/foundation.
A growing number of Americans think the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us. Yet in the District of Columbia, local officials are still clinging to government mandates that disproportionately harm low-income minority students.
The Daily Signal’s Doug Blair pressed Mayor Muriel Bowser on the issue at an Aug. 15 press conference, asking the mayor why the District of Columbia planned to bar unvaccinated students, many of whom are black, from attending school in person.
The Trail Blazers are dedicated to positively impacting the lives of individuals from communities that have been historically underserved or marginalized with a focus on where youth live, learn, and play.
The Trail Blazers are dedicated to positively impacting the lives of individuals who have been historically underserved based on race, gender, ability, immigration status, LGBTQ+ identity, and rural residence. The Foundation gives grants to nonprofits, schools and youth and is funded through meaningful corporate partnerships, revenue from Trail Blazers license plate sales and the 5050 raffle, in-game and online auctions, as well as other fundraising efforts.
Researchers at Proofpoint revealed more technical details about SocGholish, the malware variant they identified earlier this month, highlighting its noteworthy tactics that differ from traditional phishing campaigns.
According to a Proofpoint blog post Tuesday, SocGholish deviates from the norm by forgoing all the classic staples of modern phishing, such as instilling a sense of urgency, promises of rewards, and misdirection. Instead, researchers found that SocGholish is leveraged in email campaigns with injections on sites, mainly targeting organizations with extensive marketing campaigns or strong Search Engine Optimization.
“[SocGholish] really is sophisticated. I do not like to use the word ‘sophisticated’ when it comes to threats in general, but this actor [along with] its development lifecycle and various techniques really are head and shoulders above other actors,” Andrew Northern, senior threat researcher at Proofpoint, said during a virtual event on Tuesday.
Drew Schmitt, managing security consultant and lead analyst at GuidePoint Security, expanded on that point, telling SC Media in an email that SocGholish hasn’t been observed using this attack vector before, and their email-based attacks combined with get style infections “is unique in the sense that it explicitly avoids having characteristics that the average user would be able to detect and identify.”
Proofpoint first tweeted about SocGholish attacks on November 2, disclosing that the malware has infected over 250 U.S. news sites. The company said it observed intermittent injections in a media company that serves content through Javascript to its partners. The threat actor, tracked by Proofpoint as TA569, modified the codebase of the benign Javascript and used the media company to deploy SocGholish, which could result in a dangerous supply chain attack.
Proofpoint researchers told SC Media that the threat actor is not directly targeting the media industry but using these companies as their delivery mechanisms. The intended victims are consumers who visit those sites.
“The actors are opportunistic and will inject the scripts wherever they can: into landing pages, into third-party styling resources, trackers, and scripts,” said Sherrod DeGrippo, VP of threat research at detection at Proofpoint. “They rely on the compromised entity being a legitimate organization and natural email traffic, such as newsletters, marketing efforts, and bulletins, to drive traffic to those sites. In the case of online news outlets, articles are often optimized for search engines, so ad hoc searching would also lead potential victims to the compromised sites.”
Matthew Fulmer, manager of cyber intelligence engineering at Deep Instinct, added that the SocGholish is notable because it is not just an attack to gain credentials but to gain persistence and lateral movement in order to drop additional malware payloads, which could include ransomware or other threats.
Tuesday’s virtual session also highlighted how the group has applied injection strobing, a technique that adds, removes, and re-adds injections to evade detection and prevent analysis.
Northern said that one potential motivation for TA569 to manipulate injected hosts is to confuse incident responders and prevent them from analyzing the malware. He said that it could also be a result of attackers meeting their quota for delivering other payloads.
“There are a lot of reasons why they may be serving these injections, but the key takeaway here is that you don’t be quick to say that this is a false positive,” Northern said. “If you are a responder and you say this is a false positive because you cannot find it, you are going to discount the follow-on steps of checking that host to see if there are any lateral movements.”
To defend against the threat actors, Northern suggested organizations have their WMI, subscription, consumer, and triggers logging turned on and centralize those logs to monitor post-exploitation activity.
Schmitt warned that the detection of SocGholish malware is a great reminder of the threat under supply chain attacks.
“Although not observed as often as other attack mechanisms, the controlled use of a supply chain compromise, as observed by SocGholish recently, may be an indication of an even more concentrated focus on leveraging supply chain attacks overall,” Schmitt said.
King Solomon may have gained some of his famed wisdom from an unlikely source—ants.
According to a Jewish legend, Solomon conversed with a clever ant queen that confronted his pride, making quite an impression on the Israelite king. In the biblical book of Proverbs (6:6-8), Solomon shares this advice with his son: "Look 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."
While I can't claim any familial connection to King Solomon, despite sharing his name, I've long admired the wisdom of ants and have spent over 20 years studying their ecology, evolution and behaviors. While the notion that ants may offer lessons for humans has certainly been around for a while, there may be new wisdom to gain from what scientists have learned about their biology.
Lessons from ant agriculture
As a researcher, I'm especially intrigued by fungus-growing ants, a group of 248 species that cultivate fungi as their main source of food. They include 79 species of leafcutter ants, which grow their fungal gardens with freshly cut leaves they carry into their enormous underground nests. I've excavated hundreds of leafcutter ant nests from Texas to Argentina as part of the scientific effort to understand how these ants coevolved with their fungal crops.
Much like human farmers, each species of fungus-growing ant is very particular about the type of crops they cultivate. Most varieties descend from a type of fungus that the ancestors of fungus-growing ants began growing some 55 million to 65 million years ago. Some of these fungi became domesticated and are now unable to survive on their own without their insect farmers, much like some human crops such as maize.
Ant farmers face many of the same challenges human farmers do, including the threat of pests. A parasite called Escovopsis can devastate ant gardens, causing the ants to starve. Likewise in human agriculture, pest outbreaks have contributed to disasters like the Irish Potato Famine, the 1970 corn blight and the current threat to bananas.
Since the 1950s, human agriculture has become industrialized and relies on monoculture, or growing large amounts of the same variety of crop in a single place. Yet monoculture makes crops more vulnerable to pests because it is easier to destroy an entire field of genetically identical plants than a more diverse one.
Industrial agriculture has looked to chemical pesticides as a partial solution, turning agricultural pest management into a billion-dollar industry. The trouble with this approach is that pests can evolve new ways to get around pesticides faster than researchers can develop more effective chemicals. It's an arms race—and the pests have the upper hand.
Ants also grow their crops in monoculture and at a similar scale—after all, a leafcutter ant nest can be home to 5 million ants, all of which feed on the fungi in their underground gardens. They, too, use a pesticide to control Escovopsis and other pests.
Yet, their approach to pesticide use differs from humans' in one important way. Ant pesticides are produced by bacteria they allow to grow in their nests, and in some cases even on their bodies. Keeping bacteria as a living culture allows the microbes to adapt in real time to evolutionary changes in the pests. In the arms race between pests and farmers, farming ants have discovered that live bacteria can serve as pharmaceutical factories that can keep up with ever-changing pests.
Whereas exact developments in agricultural pest management have focused on genetically engineering crop plants to produce their own pesticides, the lesson from 55 million years of ant agriculture is to leverage living microorganisms to make useful products. Researchers are currently experimenting with applying live bacteria to crop plants to determine if they are effective at producing pesticides that can evolve in real time along with pests.
Improving transportation
Ants can also offer practical lessons in the realm of transportation.
Ants are notoriously good at quickly locating food, whether it's a dead insect on a forest floor or some crumbs in your kitchen. They do this by leaving a trail of pheromones—chemicals with a distinctive smell ants use to guide their nest mates to food. The shortest route to a destination will accumulate the most pheromone because more ants will have traveled back and forth along it in a given amount of time.
In the 1990s, computer scientists developed a class of algorithms modeled after ant behavior that are very effective at finding the shortest path between two or more locations. Like with real ants, the shortest route to a destination will accumulate the most virtual pheromone because more virtual ants will have traveled along it in a given amount of time. Engineers have used this simple but effective approach to design telecommunication networks and map delivery routes.
Not only are ants good at finding the shortest route from their nests to a source of food, thousands of ants are capable of traveling along these routes without causing traffic jams. I recently began collaborating with physicist Oscar Andrey Herrera-Sancho to study how leafcutter ants maintain such a steady flow along their foraging paths without the slowdowns typical of crowded human sidewalks and highways.
We are using cameras to track how each individual ant responds to artificial obstacles placed on their foraging trails. Our hope is that by getting a better understanding of the rules ants use to respond to both obstacles and the movement of other ants, we can develop algorithms that can eventually help program self-driving cars that never get stuck in traffic.
Look to the ant
To be fair, there are plenty of ways ants are far from perfect role models. After all, some ant species are known for indiscriminate killing, and others for enslaving babies.
But the fact is that ants remind us of ourselves—or the way we might like to imagine ourselves—in many ways. They live in complex societies with division of labor. They cooperate to raise their young. And they accomplish remarkable engineering feats—like building structures with air funnels that can house millions—all without blueprints or a leader. Did I mention their societies are run entirely by females?
There is still a lot to learn about ants. For example, researchers still don't fully understand how an ant larva develops into either a queen—a female with wings that can live for 20 years and lay millions of eggs—or a worker—a wingless, often sterile female that lives for less than a year and performs all the other jobs in the colony. What's more, scientists are constantly discovering new species—167 new ant species were described in 2021 alone, bringing the total to more than 15,980.
By considering ants and their many fascinating ways, there's plenty of wisdom to be gained.
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