An oldie but goodie from Krulwich Wonders… on NPR, in which German and Swiss scientists attempt to prove that desert ants count their steps. This story aired in November 2009, but the original companion video was just posted to NPR’s Vimeo account two weeks ago. Hat tip to Maria Popova for picking up on that and reviving the story, which made the rounds on Twitter. However, she erroneously described the study as new.
The pedometer theory actually dates back to 1904, but it remained untested until 2006, which is when Matthias Wittlinger and Harald Wolf, the subjects of NPR’s story, published their research in the June 30 edition of Science. NPR also covered this in Morning Edition on July 3, 2006.
