A Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderWOW, this is simple indeed, amazing how individual interactions shape collective behavior and form complex solutions.It would be even more fascinating to find out what the evolutionary path was that lead to this algorithm being picked from the presumably several similar algorithms. I am assuming similar interactions and simple instructions lead to fire ants in south america forming rafts during flooding as discussed here [1] , also it helps that ants can lift almost 5000 times its own weight [2]…
It's a pretty cool finding, but a shallow article and arguably clickbait. > ... it’s very possible there’s more governing army ant behavior than two simple rules. Then don't say otherwise in the title!
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 416
- Total comments
- 82
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-02-26 | A Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build BridgesFirst breakout · Best thread | adenadel | 289 | 45 |
| 2020-01-07 | The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges (Feb 2018) | jelliclesfarm | 2 | 0 |
| 2022-10-14 | The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges (2018) | yamrzou | 3 | 0 |
| 2023-08-13 | The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges | milar | 2 | 0 |
| 2024-08-24 | The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges (2018)Latest 20+ point return | silverkite | 120 | 37 |