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Comments

• [1] richard sloat from east village February 22, 2008 - 12:37PM

  Years ago when living in Taiwan I watched ants attacking earthworms using sharp bits of straw, along with biting to kill the worms. Could you comment on the use of tools by ants.

  
  
• [2] a woman from manhattan February 22, 2008 - 01:41PM

  In Paris, France, about once a year the sidewalks are literally covered in winged ants for about a week. It's very disconcerting. They're everywhere, flying, on the sidewalks, feels like a plague! Why does this happen?

  
  
• [3] Amy from Manhattan February 22, 2008 - 01:43PM

  Last time I heard a reference to office workers as "drones," it occurred to me that this usage is backwards, since drones in the insect world don't actually work; the ones that do the work, as the guests mentioned, are called "workers." Hmm, maybe this could be discussed on one of Leonard's language segments.

  And of course, the ant in the song trying to move the plant would have to be a worker & therefore female. So it should be "*She's* got high hopes"!

  
  
• [4] LBS from NYC February 22, 2008 - 01:44PM

  It sounds like ant hills are organized a lot like bee hives. Are there similarities, or is it just my imagination?

  
  
• [5] Ruth Klein from NYC February 22, 2008 - 01:48PM

  I think your guest will appreciate this short TRUE story:

  many years ago, I had occasion to ask Grandfather David Monongye, the 106 year old Hopi elder, who had been the teacher he'd learned most from.

  He paused for quite some time, and then replied, "Ants."

  
  
• [6] gf from nyc February 22, 2008 - 01:54PM

  what have we learned about complexity theory (dynamic systems theory) from ants?