So for example, when ants leave the nest, they deposit a pheromone trail along the route they take.
举个例子说,当蚂蚁离开巢穴时,它们会在自己走着的路线上留下一条费洛蒙痕迹。
If they find food, they return to the nest on the same path, and the pheromone trail gets stronger, it’s doubled in strength.
如果它们找到了食物,它们回蚁巢时会走同一条路,所以这条路上的费洛蒙会变得更强烈,因为强度翻番了。
Because an ant that took a shorter path returns first, its pheromone trail is stronger and other ants will follow it according to rule two.
因为选择了短一些的路的蚂蚁会先回到蚁巢,它的费洛蒙痕迹更强烈,而根据第二条规则,其他的蚂蚁也会走这条路。
And as more ants travel that path the pheromone trail gets even stronger.
随着越来越多的蚂蚁在这条路上走过,那里的费洛蒙痕迹就会变得更强。
So what’s happening here? Each ant follows two very basic rules.
那么这里会发生什么呢?每只蚂蚁都会遵从这两条非常基本的规则。
And each ant acts on information it finds in its immediate local environment.
而且每只蚂蚁会根据它在当时的环境中发现的信息行动。
And it’s important to note, even though none of the individual ants is aware of the bigger plan,
有一个很重要的事情要注意,虽然没有任何一只蚂蚁意识到了更大的计划,
they collectively choose the shortest path between the nest and the food source, because it’s the most reinforced path.
但它们集体选择了蚁巢和食物之间最短的路,因为这是痕迹最强的路。
By the way, a few you have asked me about the relevance of what we are studying to everyday life.
顺便提一下,你们中有些人问过我,我们正在学习的内容和日常生活有什么联系。
And swarm intelligence offers several good examples of how concepts in biology can be applied to other fields.
群体智能提供了好几个很好的例子,说明了生物学中的概念如何能被用于其他领域。