Scientists use Age of Empires computer game to simulate ant warfare

#ants #eradication #antwarfare #CSIRO
A computer game given once in the cereal boxes of children once helps Australia eliminate an invading ant species. Lock Points Researchers, using age of the empires simulated war between domestic and invading ants Researchers simulated war between domestic and invasive ants using the age of empires. It is hoped that the research will help local ants more competitive against invading species, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on the invading ant eradication in Australia The Australian National Science Agency CSIRO and Western Australian University of Australia used the imperial age simulate the war of Ant, to find out how domestic ant species would help fight with invasive colleagues. "Ants are one the few groups of animal species in which war resembles human war in terms scale and mortality," the researcher Samuel Lymbbery said.Said. Using game, the research team built arm armies battlefields in different dimensions and shapes watched their wars, then mapped results. Dr."We created small groups of powerful soldiers and increasingly opposed the weak soldiers."Said. Research focused on domestic Australian meat ants and smaller, invading Argentine ants And although it seems fun to play a computer game for business, Dr Lymbbery said it wasn't as fun as you thought. "What you want to do is not re -establishing the same scenario, running in a very repetitive way and intervening too much," he said. "This is probably the most boring way to play a video game." Domestic vs Invazive For the study, the team looked particularly large, domestic Australian meat ants and small, non -native Argentine ants. The armies created in the game behaved in a simple, predictable and measurable way and allowed the emergence of mathematical war models. The researchers later performed laboratory experiments ants and compared the models animals that were unpredictable real animals that were unprouted world examples. "Allows you to determine the partnership points and the difference between simple and more complex systems," Dr Lymbbery said.Said. Researchers used age of the popular strategy game of empires to simulate how ant species fought. They found that the small armies of strong soldiers did better in complex terrain -based warfare areas, and that the weak soldiers did better in simple open open war areas. For those who put this into the context of the real world, simple battlefield would be pathway or urban park, and complex battlefield would be bush lane with shrubs, small shrubs and woody remains. Dr. Lymbbery said that his work could help develop new approaches Habitat administration, such as stitching or more environmental complexity to urban environments in order refuse competitive balance in favor of local ants. Invading ants in Australia Throughout the country, 50 different invaders have been created, including electrical ants, fire ants and yellow crazy ants. Carol Booth, an Invasive Council Council Director Policy A