Why Scientists Made Ants Walk on Stilts

Learn about why people have illusions of control; that time scientists made desert ants walk on stilts to test the pedometer hypothesis; and how to reduce your chances of getting hurt when you fall.

Illusions of control may arise not because humans ignore evidence, but because they're very sensitive to it by Kelsey Donk

• Yon, D. (2020, December 2). It’s not necessarily deluded to feel in control when you’re not. Psyche; Psyche. https://psyche.co/ideas/its-not-necessarily-deluded-to-feel-in-control-when-youre-not
• Yon, D., Bunce, C., & Press, C. (2020). Illusions of control without delusions of grandeur. Cognition, 205, 104429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104429

The time scientists made ants walk on stilts… for science (obviously!) by Cameron Duke

• Carey, B. (2006, June 29). When Ants Go Marching, They Count Their Steps. Livescience.com. https://www.livescience.com/871-ants-marching-count-steps.html
• Shi, N. N., Tsai, C.-C., Camino, F., Bernard, G. D., Yu, N., & Wehner, R. (2015). Keeping cool: Enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants. Science, 349(6245), 298–301. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab3564

Everybody Falls. Here's the Right Way to Do It by Ashley Hamer

• Villaveces, A., Mutter, R., Owens, P. L., & Barrett, M. L. (2013). Causes of injuries treated in the emergency department, 2010. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) statistical briefs. Rockville (MD): Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US). https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb156.pdf
• Lozano, R., Naghavi, M., Foreman, K., Lim, S., Shibuya, K., Aboyans, V., ... & Remuzzi, G. (2012). Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61728-0/fulltext
• The Right Way to Fall (Published 2017). (2021). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/well/move/the-right-way-to-fall.html?_r=0
• Steinberg, N. (2017, June 5). How to fall to your death and live to tell the tale. Mosaic. https://mosaicscience.com/story/falling-science-injury-death-falls/
• Raphelson, S. (2018, January 11). How To Tumble With Care When It Gets Slippery Outside. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2018/01/11/577414890/how-to-tumble-with-care-when-it-gets-slippery-outside

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