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Bees can do basic arithmetic

Scientific stuff, religious stuff, and all of the shit we don't yet know about like spooky ghosts and bigfoot.
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weimy froob
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Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:10 am

Bees can do basic arithmetic

Post by weimy froob »

Date:
February 6, 2019
Source:
RMIT University
Summary:
Researchers set out to test whether bees could do math, building on a groundbreaking finding that bees understand the concept of zero. The new study shows bees can be taught to recognize colors as symbolic representations for addition and subtraction, and use this information to solve arithmetic problems. The revelation that even the miniature brain of a honeybee can grasp basic mathematical operations has implications for the future development of AI.

Image

Honeybee

Researchers have found bees can do basic mathematics, in a discovery that expands our understanding of the relationship between brain size and brain power.

Building on their finding that honeybees can understand the concept of zero, Australian and French researchers set out to test whether bees could perform arithmetic operations like addition and subtraction.

Solving maths problems requires a sophisticated level of cognition, involving the complex mental management of numbers, long-term rules and short term working memory.

The revelation that even the miniature brain of a honeybee can grasp basic mathematical operations has implications for the future development of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in improving rapid learning.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 200358.htm
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