We’ve learned bees can understand zero and do basic maths, and now a new study shows their tiny insect brains may be capable of connecting symbols to numbers.
Researchers have trained honeybees to match a character to a specific quantity, revealing they are able to learn that a symbol represents a numerical amount.
It’s a finding that sheds new light on how numerical abilities may have evolved over millennia and even opens new possibilities for communication between humans and other species.
The discovery, from the same Australian-French team that found bees get the concept of zero and can do simple arithmetic, also points to new approaches for bio-inspired computing that can replicate the brain’s highly efficient approach to processing.
Read more at RMIT University
Image: The bees were trained and tested in a Y-shaped maze. CREDIT: RMIT University