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Basis of the article is questionable. Humans slow down on traffic to avoid accidents. Ants don’t have that constraint. Neither will ants cause a stampede and can suffocate to death.

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The article frustrated me because it contradicts itself several times.

>When it's moderately busy, for instance, the authors found the ants actually speed up, accelerating until a maximum flow or capacity is reached.

Then from the next paragraph:

>Plus, at high density times like this, the ants were found to change their behaviour and slow down to avoid more time-wasting collisions.

Did I miss something here or does this legitimately make no sense?

At low density, ants move at a speed that maximizes efficiency. At medium density, they move a bit more briskly, sacrificing some energy to keep from blocking traffic. At high density, they move more deliberately, avoiding situations like we see on highways where a single vehicle advances rapidly but slows down many others as they brake to avoid it and cause a traffic wave.

to me it reads as if (density == Density.Moderate) // speed up else if (density == Density.High) // slow down

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