Bees Can Do Maths

Transcript: Bees Can Do Maths

Description: This video updates viewers on the discovery by RMIT researchers that bees can do basic maths

AUDIO: Upbeat, ambient music plays

VISUAL: A yellow slide with a swarm of bees flying across the frame

TEXT: Bees can do basic maths!

VISUAL: Egyptian hieroglyphics

TEXT: Adding and subtracting has been vital in human societies since as early as 2000BC

VISUAL: A bee sits on a sunflower

TEXT: And now we know bees can do it too!

VISUAL: A chalkboard with maths equations being written on it

TEXT: Arithmetic involves a sophisticated level of cognition. Long-term rules must be remembered while short-term working memory deals with the numbers

VISUAL: A bee hovers in the air

TEXT: RMIT researchers taught bees to recognise colours as symbolic representations for addition and subtraction

VISUAL: Honeycomb with bees working

TEXT: And found that, despite their tiny brains, bees can do basic arithmetic

VISUAL: A digital rendering of a brain rotates

TEXT: The research expands our understanding of the relationship between brain size and brain power

VISUAL: A robot face stares as digital animations spin around it

TEXT: And that means AI developers could also learn a thing or two from our insect friends

TEXT: Shaping. The. World.

VISUAL: The RMIT logo appears.

[End Transcript]