How desert ants calculate a direct route home

Desert ants calculate a direct route home

A desert ant can wander along a twisting route and still head directly home afterward. It keeps track of the distances and directions traveled and combines them into a return route. Moving the ant to a new location shifts where it thinks home should be by the same amount.

Friction around a black hole can turn gravity into light

Gas falling toward a black hole usually circles it in a disk. Friction and other forces in the disk move spin outward and turn energy from the black hole's gravity into heat and radiation. This can power some of the brightest objects in the universe.

The British Empire covered a quarter of Earth’s land

At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire covered about a quarter of the world’s land and included about a quarter of its population. It was the largest empire in history.

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How desert ants calculate a direct route home

Desert ants calculate a direct route home

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