Next time you are annoyed by a pesky ant, stop, think, and have some respect. Ants have inspired mathematicians to develop a whole class of computer algorithms designed to solve very difficult real-world problems. In this article and podcast we talk to Marco Dorigo about ants and so-called ant colony optimisation.

The power of ants — This article takes an in-depth look at the behaviour of ants, the maths involved, and how this has led to cutting edge algorithms.

The power of ants: The podcast — In this podcast we hear from Dorigo himself about his work with ants and algorithms.