If you think that you have had enough of Swan Lake after watching numerous performances in the theater, perhaps it is time to expand your horizons and see a ballet performed by non-humans. In fact, the “folks” on “stage” would come with an extra pair of limbs compared to us humans. I am referring to the Ant Ballet by designer Ollie Palmer who hails from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, where this research project will reproduce the pheromones that ants use to communicate in order to have them shake their booty, so to speak.
This particular research project into paranoia, control systems, insects, and architecture, is split into four different phases, where Palmer did conduct thorough research into Linepthinema humile Argentine ants while using a robotic arm to dispense powder trails of synthesized pheromones (Z9:16 Ald Hexadecenal), resulting in the ants to move around in a way that is different from one’s natural foraging behavior. Next up, will we be able to see somersaulting ants so that there is an insect rendition of Cirque du Soleil?
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