Ants are having a real red-letter week. In addition to a number one box office spot for Ant-Man—so far the only superhero movie with a central role for ants—ants were lauded by researchers today thanks to their natural micro-filtering abilities, which they say could have important applications for nanotech. Way to go, ants.In a video from the Cambridge University Department of Zoology, Cambridge's Alexander Hackmann explains that ants, contrary to what one might think, are quite fastidious, and have developed a sophisticated way to clean their vital antennae."Ants have evolved a special cleaning structure on their forelegs on which they clamp their antennae and pull them through," Hackmann said. "The cleaning structure consists of three different zones: the bristles and the comb remove the largest particles mechanically. Smaller contaminants that make it through these first two filtering steps then adhere to the brush hairs."Hackmann, a researcher at the Insect Biomechanics Workgroup at Cambridge, said this structure could be used as a model by researchers looking to develop a way to clean electronics and circuitry that is equally susceptible to dirt and tiny particles."We hope that understanding the biomechanical principles of these cleaning structures will help us design bio-inspired cleaning devices for cleaning on micro and nanoscale," Hackmann said.
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Ants' Grooming Combs Could Hold the Key to Cleaning Nanogadgets
Mimicking the bugs’ natural cleaning abilities could help scientists clean sensitive electronics.