Fire ants as active matter

Fire ants as active matter
David Hu, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date and time: Wed, Nov 05, 2014 - 4:00pm
Refreshments at 3:40pm
Location: ILC S131 NOTE NEW LOCATION! Refresments in Hasbrouck Lobby
Category: Departmental Colloquium
Abstract:
Fire ants are model organisms for studying active self-healing materials. By linking their legs together, they build highly interconnected networks that can quickly rearrange themselves in response to applied stress. In this talk, we present experiments and modeling that elucidate their construction. Spherical rafts of ants morph into pancakes within minutes; towers are constructed to provide an equal compressive load on each ant. We also use plate-on-plate rheology to show ants modify their elastic and viscous moduli by rearrangement of their bodies. At the end of the talk, we present our outreach work on the Law of Urination, which states that animals from cats to elephants empty their bladders over the same duration of 21 seconds.