3 replies to this topic

[OhNoNotAgain]

Why termites build such enormous skyscrapers

 

(also has information on how the mound-building termites build them. Also interesting theory: "Could moisture act like a central computer system, providing termites with information about everything from where to lay a soil blob when building, to how stuffy the mound is, and to how much ventilation is going through it?")

 

http://www.bbc.com/e...ous-skyscrapers

[Nare]

Termite mounds are the height of emergent behaviour in my opinion. That something so complicated and engineered better than most of our buildings could emerge from creatures with a sliver of the brainpower of ours always amazes me.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Termite mounds are the height of emergent behaviour in my opinion. That something so complicated and engineered better than most of our buildings could emerge from creatures with a sliver of the brainpower of ours always amazes me.

That's exactly what makes a superorganism so efficient. All the individual termites put their tiny little brains together to form almost a single mind capable of accomplishing things an individual could never do. It amazes me too.

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, March 8 2020 - 4:44 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

And also, there’s no questioning decisions and rebellions.