Frightened ants may lead the way to smarter mass evacuation, researchers say (VIDEO)
Ants are seen on a Yellowtops bush on March 28, 2011 in Birdsville, Australia.
According to Australian researcher Majid Sarvi, ants may dictate the future design of office buildings, sports arenas, and public transit portals. How's that? Well, they seem to be quite the little experts on mass evacuation.
But instead of congratulating them, he's been busy terrifying hordes of the insects at Monash University in Melbourne in order to study crowd exit strategies, reported New Scientist.
Sarvi believes that the methods used by ants to escape from threatening situations can help humans improve their own tactics when it comes to emergency mass evacuations.
Panicked ants are believed to behave similarly to panicked crowds — plus, Sarvi told New Scientist, they are "low cost" research subjects "with no need for ethical approval."
Sarvi said their behavior could lead to improved models for exits on a wide variety of buildings. Watch the video for more:
The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?