NASA Experiment
NASA has recently published the results of a very unusual experiment that was conducted last year regarding ants. Ants were sent to space in a small box to the International Space Station as part of an experiment. They wanted to see how ants behaved in microgravity conditions or what we know as zero gravity. They also wanted to see if the colony could function properly without the usual stabilization that they have on Earth. The results were recorded on camera and NASA wants to use this experiment as a way for children in schools to learn about space and about the different missions that NASA performs.
When the ants were sent to space, they were confined in a small box that had different barriers put up within to keep them as stabilized as possible. As the ants were in space for a bit longer, the scientists began to pull away the barriers one by one and allowed the ants to explore their new territory. They were originally confined to one corner of the transparent box and then moved progressively to new sections until the whole box was open to them.
Because of the usual behaviors of ants on Earth, scientists wanted to see how much the microgravity conditions would affect the ants’ ability to explore and map out the area around them. They performed the same experiment on Earth by placing the ants in a corner of the box and consecutively opening up the barriers. It took the ants on Earth approximately 5 minutes to map out the whole area. The ants that were sent to space, and thus under the effects of microgravity, were unable to cover all of the territory in the same time frame, they were able to map out most of it.
This bizarre experiment is actually supposed to help scientists and researchers better understand the ants movements and to determine how they really function when it comes to discovering new territory and communicating with each other. The full experiment involved eight different habitats the ants had to confront and overcome. Each of these habitats was home to 100 ants. The idea was to see how well they would work as a team and to understand more about their exploratory behaviors.
The ants that were sent to space were kept in a nest area onboard that kept them safe and sound. This allowed for their safe transport and kept them from suffering from the changes in pressure and gravity. One of the interesting things about the experiment once it was underway was seeing how the ants formed new pathways and how those pathways changed as the density they were in shifted.
Typically, when looking at ant behavior, it is easy to tell that they form a unit, but the unit itself or colony is not directed by any one ant, and each ant is responsible for its own actions. Somehow, these amazing little creatures manage to work together while still having their own individual identities. It is truly a marvel of nature and one to be studied more closely in the future.
