A Model for Collective Dynamics in Ant Raids

Ant raiding, the process of identifying and returning food to the nest or bivouac, is a fascinating example of collective motion in nature. During such raids ants lay pheromones to form trails for others to find a food source. In this work a coupled PDE/ODE model is introduced to study ant dynamics and pheromone concentration. The key idea is the introduction of two forms of ant dynamics: foraging and returning, each governed by different environmental and social cues. The model accounts for all aspects of the raiding cycle including local collisional interactions, the laying of pheromone along a trail, and the transition from one class of ants to another. Through analysis of an order parameter measuring the orientational order in the system, the model shows self-organization into a collective state consisting of lanes of ants moving in opposite directions as well as the transition back to the individual state once the food source is depleted matching prior experimental results. This indicates that in the absence of direct communication ants naturally form an efficient method for transporting food to the nest/bivouac. The model exhibits a continuous kinetic phase transition in the order parameter as a function of certain system parameters. The associated critical exponents are found, shedding light on the behavior of the system near the transition.Comment: Preprint Version, 30 pgs., 18 figures, complete version with supplementary movies to appear in Journal of Mathematical Biology (Springer

Evidence of swarm intelligence in collective cultures: Identifying the use of the swarm goal directive of productivity in Pacific organisation systems as well as getween genders

Intrigued by the existence of societies outside that of the human population, scientists have ventured to study social aggregations within insects to seek insights on effective colonizing. The most popular of these social aggregations are colonies of ants and bees. In studying these groups of social insects researchers have developed algorithms loosely termed swarm intelligence that increase work efficiency within businesses and other social organizations (Bonabeau & Meyer, 2001). A subsequent proliferation of research in surrounding fields has allowed for investigation of key variables that improve work on a global scale (Bonabeau & Meyer, 2001). James Kennedy (1999), an initiator of swarm research, has suggested that there is a high correlation between systems that rely on each other for information and greater task accomplishment

Stigmergic epistemology, stigmergic cognition

To know is to cognize, to cognize is to be a culturally bounded, rationality-bounded and environmentally located agent. Knowledge and cognition are thus dual aspects of human sociality. If social epistemology has the formation, acquisition, mediation, transmission and dissemination of knowledge in complex communities of knowers as its subject matter, then its third party character is essentially stigmergic. In its most generic formulation, stigmergy is the phenomenon of indirect communication mediated by modifications of the environment. Extending this notion one might conceive of social stigmergy as the extra-cranial analog of an artificial neural network providing epistemic structure. This paper recommends a stigmergic framework for social epistemology to account for the supposed tension between individual action, wants and beliefs and the social corpora. We also propose that the so-called "extended mind" thesis offers the requisite stigmergic cognitive analog to stigmergic knowledge. Stigmergy as a theory of interaction within complex systems theory is illustrated through an example that runs on a particle swarm optimization algorithm

Education for Sustainable Development

The U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development has collected resources to help educators and the general public understand sustainable development (creating healthy ecosystems, communities and economies). Resources are categorized into youth, K-12, higher education, business, faith and funding. Educational levels: Primary elementary, Intermediate elementary, Middle school, High school, Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional, General public

a variational approach to niche construction

In evolutionary biology, niche construction is sometimes described as a genuine evolutionary process whereby organisms, through their activities and regulatory mechanisms, modify their environment such as to steer their own evolutionary trajectory, and that of other species. There is ongoing debate, however, on the extent to which niche construction ought to be considered a bona fide evolutionary force, on a par with natural selection. Recent formulations of the variational free-energy principle as applied to the life sciences describe the properties of living systems, and their selection in evolution, in terms of variational inference. We argue that niche construction can be described using a variational approach. We propose new arguments to support the niche construction perspective, and to extend the variational approach to niche construction to current perspectives in various scientific fields

Desire lines as a proxy of pedestrian preferences: a synthetic approach to public space configuration

En la pràctica de l'Arquitectura i de l'Urbanisme, han aparegut en les últimes dècades una creixent quantitat d'eines de simulació en àmbits com el de la representació, l'energia, el comportament estructural o el control i seguiment de l'obra. Moltes d’aquestes eines representen una evolució de metodologies existents mitjançant l'aplicació de la informàtica. Aquesta capacitat de simulació de la realitat física contrasta amb la dificultat que presenta la simulació del comportament dels usuaris dins dels edificis o les ciutats, degut al poc coneixement de la seva conducta en aquests àmbits. Els usos que les persones faran dels espais són una nebulosa de nocions intuïtives dins del procés creatiu dels qui conceben aquests espais. De la mateixa manera com un equip d'Arquitectes que està projectant un gratacels necessita saber el comportament dels materials, l'aspecte de l'edifici acabat o la planificació dels treballs, necessiten disposar d'eines per anticipar el comportament de les persones (treballadors, clients, vianants o habitants) dins els espais que projecten. Aquesta tesi vol obtenir, mitjançant un model basant en agents, una eina per poder anticipar els moviments de les persones en els espais que projecten Arquitectes, Urbanistes i Paisatgistes i d'aquesta manera obtenir espais més adequats a les necessitats dels usuaris. Per tal de definir aquest model del comportament dels vianants en l’espai públic, es parteix de l'observació de la presència en espais públics total o parcialment enjardinats d’unes zones mancades de vegetació on el ferm ha estat compactat per les petjades dels vianants, en forma de camins o de dreceres. Aquestes dreceres expliquen la lògica de formació de manera espontània per part dels usuaris d'aquests elements no planificats, coneguts en anglès com a "desire paths", en contraposició als camins formalment planificats

Commoning and climate justice

Commoning represents a dynamic and emergent means of risk-reduction and livelihood provision which can address the shortcomings of both market and state-oriented economic systems -- increasingly relevant as climate change threatens human subsistence worldwide. This paper brings together international examples of responses to climate-related threats that are collective (not privatizing), to provide preliminary empirical evidence about how and in what circumstances people may develop equitable communal institutions rather than ones that worsen community fragmentation. The examples include traditional and new forms of commons which help to meet local subsistence needs and develop communities’ social, political and economic resilience in the face of climate change, exploring how climate justice -- improving the local and global equity of climate change impacts and processes – can advance in parallel with commons development.This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, FRN IDRC and SSHRC File Agreement No. 2017-008