How Bumblebees Solve The Traveling Salesman Problem
Monday, October 1, 2012 - 20:40
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have tracked bumblebees to see how they select the optimal route to collect nectar from multiple flowers and return to their nest. They were able to use radar tracking to show how bumblebees discover flowers, learn their location and use trial and error to find the most efficient route between flowers over large distances. It's the classic traveling salesman problem but not theoretical. They're more efficient than UPS trucks, even without all those left-hand turns. read more