Self-Aware Ants

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Script: Ants just passed the mirror test-- meaning they might be self aware.

Scientists painted fire ants with tiny blue dots. In front of a mirror, they tried to scrape the dot off. Without a mirror they had no reaction, suggesting that the ants recognize themselves in the mirror. Humans don't even pass this test until 18 months old.

But maybe we shouldn't be so surprised. Ants have the biggest brain to body ratio of all in the animal kingdom. They invented farming, medicine, and wage war.

And newer research: they don't just follow a hivemind. Most species actually trust their memories over other ants' pheromone trails. If they remember better food sources, they'll ignore what the other ants say. In experiments where scientists move food sources at random, ants put down less pheromones, as if to communicate doubt in their findings.

Science used to think that insects were more like robots, but it turns out that humans might just like to underestimate small things without a voice.

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