Although cooperation may seem a uniquely human function, it occurs all over the animal kingdom. Ants are astonishing creatures, not to mention numerous: they may comprise upward of 15 percent of the terrestrial animal mass.

Adam Lazarus has been fascinated by them since childhood, and is now a researcher at the Marine Biological Labs in Woods Hole, Mass. I met him recently and was transfixed with the stories he told not only of cooperation among ants, but of symbioses between ants and bacteria.

With Adam, let's discuss:

• What sorts of improbable behaviors do ants do? How are colonies and individuals related?
• How do ants and bacteria interact? How much do we understand about these processes?
• What can we learn from them?

As always, an IRC Chat will be available during the call, here.

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