Professor of Biology, Stanford University. Investigates how ant colonies and other complex systems operate without central control and how they evolve; social networks of brief interactions regulate collective behaviour; in desert ants, evolution is favouring collective behaviour that conserves water, a sustainable strategy in the face of climate change. Examines analogies with neuroscience and robotics, and how natural systems such as ants can inspire innovation in engineered data systems ("Anternet").
As the world works to lower greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, one super pollutant is headed in the wrong direction. For the second year in a row, Nati...
Like a brain, an ant colony operates without central control. Each is a set of interacting individuals, either neurons or ants, using simple chemical interactions that in the aggregate ge...
Ant colonies operate without central control. This is difficult to imagine, and it's easy to attribute control where there isn't any.
