00:03Ants are notoriously well organized, with their colonies featuring perfectly hewn lines of millions of insects working in tandem.
00:10And now scientists say it's likely due in large part to their ability to communicate, something they might even do
00:16better than us.
00:17According to the study's lead author, Dr. Taylor Hart, ants have developed an extremely sophisticated olfactory system.
00:23According to her, this lets the ants communicate with different pheromones, which mean different things.
00:27They have developed this ability over the course of their 168 million year existence, building colonies when the dinosaurs still
00:34ruled the Earth.
00:35The researchers discovered their communicative abilities, first by developing an engineered protein, which illuminates when ant brain activity ignites.
00:42And they found that their brain would light up when different actions were in play, such as when they were
00:46in panic mode, meaning fleeing, evacuating their colony, or transporting offspring.
00:50The researchers say this is key in better understanding how their colonies work, and how they are so good at
00:55avoiding traps set by humans.
00:57It also explains why the larger colony is so good at providing for itself, and could someday explain how their
01:02complex societal structure is laid out.
01:05Their
01:06shall be a sign?
01:09See you soon?
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