This morning I heard an interesting program on NPR radio station about ants and their pedometers in the brain. It’s hard to believe, but it seems that German scientists have the proof that ants count their steps backwards in order to go back to their nests.

In the Sahara desert, they cannot rely on the scent the other ants worldwide spray on the way, so they can come back. Due to the wind and sand, they cannot smell their scent left, so their brain have a kind of pedometer that counts the steps since they left the nest and then they count backwards to come back. They also follow the sun position for their sense of direction.

You may see the article with a cartoon showing the experience the scientists made to proof their theory at the NPR’s website.