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Read the text and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.
Ants
Ants have an astonishing ability to mix collective muscle with individual initiative for heavy lifting, a study has revealed. In experiments, researchers showed how a dozen or more ants working in unison to haul something like a large insect could adjust their course based on new intelligence provided by a single ant joining the effort. Realising somehow that the group is off-course or headed for trouble, the “scout” subtly signalled a needed change in direction by tugging at a different angle. Rather than resisting the others fell into line. “The individual ant has the idea of how to pass an obstacle but lacks the muscle power to move the load,” explained Ofer Feinerman, the study’s main architect and a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. “The group is there to amplify the leader’s strength so that she can actually implement her idea.” Just as surprising, the same ant that took the lead will, 10 to 20 seconds later, yield that role to another new arrival with more up-to-date information. “As far as we can tell the scout is no different than the other ants,” Feinerman said by email. “No one designates the leader, she – not he – designates herself because she has current knowledge about the correct direction.” Ants are among the very few animals, besides humans, that organise among themselves to collectively carry loads far heavier than an individual member of their species. One of the challenges, for ants or humans, is finding a balance between synchronised action, or conformity, on the one hand, and the flexibility needed to adapt, on the other.
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