A new study led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology describes how
We were curious why these worms form theseliving substance. We have now shown through mathematical models and biological experiments that the formation of clots provides a kind of collective decision-making, in particular, to survive longer without drying out. We have also shown that they can move together: no other organisms we know of at the macro level exhibit this behavior.
Saad Bhamla, Assistant Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
First, the authors observed a clump of worms: they pulled them out of the water.When these searches were unsuccessful, they formed a spherical clump in which the individuals took turns to emerge on the outer surface, open to the air, so that no individual would be severely harmed by the effects of theIn such a clot, worms can survive 10 times longer than alone.
Collective action increases the chances of survival of the entire group, which canrange from 10 worms to 50,000 worms.
The researchers hope to continue to study the collective dynamics of worm clumps and use their knowledge to create a swarm of robots that willWork together to accomplish tasks they couldn't do alone.
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