Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Distributed Loads: Problem Solving

Distributed Loads: Problem Solving

Beams are structural elements commonly employed in engineering applications requiring different load-carrying capacities. The first step in analyzing a beam under a distributed load is to simplify the problem by dividing the load into smaller regions, which allows one to consider each region separately and calculate the magnitude of the equivalent resultant load acting on each portion of the beam. The magnitude of the equivalent resultant load for each region can be determined by calculating...

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Assessment of vitamin D levels in patients with alopecia areata: a case-control study in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India.

Annals of medicine·2026

Same author

Nest Entrance Architecture and the Regulation of Foraging Activity in Desert Harvester Ants.

Ecology and evolution·2025

Same author

Brittle Cornea Syndrome Type 1 in Siblings: Severe Presentation in One and Misdiagnosis as Primary Congenital Glaucoma in the Other.

Cornea·2025

Same author

Bridging knowledge gaps: A case report of pulmonary Veno-occlusive disease in systemic sclerosis.

Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society·2025

Same author

The life history of harvester ant colonies.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2024

Same author

Colony life history of the tropical arboreal ant, <i>Cephalotes goniodontus</i> De Andrade, 1999.

Insectes sociaux·2024

Same journal

Tau protein as a regulator of mitochondrial function and dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same journal

A scalable, dividing cell model for the robust propagation and quantification of human sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same journal

Epigenetic regulation of mesenchymal BMP signaling directs postnatal organ innervation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same journal

Single-shot wide-field biochemical imaging at 1 kHz frame rate.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same journal

Morphogenesis and topological evolution of a frustrated nematic liquid crystal under confinement.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same journal

B cell-intrinsic CXCR3 drives efficient generation of ectopic pulmonary germinal center responses to influenza A virus infection.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Published on: April 23, 2016

Distributed algorithms from arboreal ants for the shortest path problem.

Shivam Garg¹, Kirankumar Shiragur², Deborah M Gordon³

¹Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|January 30, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Arboreal ants create efficient trail networks by using pheromones to navigate. Their behavior models a reinforced random walk, solving shortest path problems with minimal resources.

Keywords:

ant colonies distributed algorithms graph algorithms natural algorithms shortest path problem

More Related Videos

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants Atta in Laboratory Conditions

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants Atta in Laboratory Conditions

Published on: August 30, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 12, 2025

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Foraging Path-length Protocol for Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Published on: April 23, 2016

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants

Published on: October 12, 2018

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants Atta in Laboratory Conditions

Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants Atta in Laboratory Conditions

Published on: August 30, 2022

Area of Science:

Ecology
Computer Science
Behavioral Biology

Background:

Arboreal turtle ants form complex trail networks connecting nests and food sources in tropical forest canopies.
These networks are formed on a graph of branches and vines, with ants depositing volatile pheromones on traversed edges.
Ants use a pheromone-based decision rule at each vertex to choose the next edge, facilitating bidirectional flow.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a biologically plausible model explaining how ant colonies optimize trail networks.
To investigate the relationship between ant trail formation and shortest path algorithms.
To identify the conditions under which ant colonies can solve shortest path problems.

Main Methods:

A model based on a variant of the reinforced random walk on a graph was developed.
Simulations and mathematical analysis were used to study the dynamics of the ant trail network formation.
The model's convergence properties were analyzed under varying ant flow rates.

Main Results:

The model demonstrates that ant colonies can approximate shortest paths without central control.
When ant flow rate is constant, trail networks converge to paths minimizing the number of vertices.
Increasing the ant flow rate over time leads to convergence to the true shortest path.

Conclusions:

Ant colonies solve a variant of the shortest path problem using decentralized, resource-minimal strategies.
Bidirectional ant flow and pheromone-proportionate decision rules are crucial for guaranteed convergence to the shortest path.
The study suggests novel algorithms for shortest path problems inspired by ant behavior.