The results of an experiment on the ISS to monitor how ants cope with zero-gravity has been published . Researchers found they managed surprisingly well , using other ants or the surfaces and walls as anchors to climb . However , their ability to search collectively did not go perfectly as they tumbled and fell while trying to explore . Scroll down for video . A team in California studied ants in zero gravity on the ISS . Astronauts were asked to monitor the ants in eight habitats on the station . Nasa astronaut Rick Mastracchio is seen here observing the activities of the Ants In Space CSI-06 investigation aboard the International Space Station . The study , Collective Search by Ants in Microgravity , was published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution . The ants were taken to the station in January 2014 and subsequently studied by astronauts on board . Ants inside colonies move according to internalised rules , judging how many other ants are nearby by touching antenna and using their sense of smell . Working together , the ants cover a piece of ground comprehensively to find food and supplies . When the area expands they change from moving in small circles to scuttling in straighter lines , covering more ground . But in the micro gravity of space , the ants ' rules are confounded and they have to develop a new set of innate principles by which to work . These flexible principles could be adapted to instruct robots to work together in the same way , for tasks like searching a burning building . ‘ We had no idea what the ants would do . We did n't know if they would be able to search at all , ’ said Professor Deborah Gordon , a biologist at Stanford University , to the BBC . The experiment used eight different habitats in total , with each containing 80 common pavement ants . As barrier doors between the different sections were opened , the ants dispersed to search the new area . The astronauts then recorded the habitats with an HD video camera . A control experiment was carried out on Earth , and the results - perhaps unsurprisingly - showed that those on the ground were much better at searching than those in space . In fact , the ants were not even able to explore the entirety of their habitats in space , as they found it tough to grip and dropped off the surface for up to eight seconds at a time . At any one moment , the researchers found that seven per cent of the ants were floating around . The Ants In Space CSI-06 investigation looked at how an ant colony responds to the extreme environment of microgravity aboard the International Space Station to solve their collective need for resources . Data gathered from this study may help with algorithms for robotics on Earth . ‘ The ants did not perform collective search as effectively in microgravity as they did in the ground controls , ’ the researchers wrote in their paper . ‘ Because ants in microgravity did not use straighter paths or traverse more distance when the area to be searched expanded , they did not search the area thoroughly. ’ The researchers noted that one of the reasons the ants struggled to explore their might have been that they were unable to interact with others easily . However , it was not all bad news ; the ants showed an ‘ impressive ability to walk on the surface in microgravity , and an even more remarkable capacity to regain their contact with the surface once they were tumbling around in the air. ’ The ants also made efforts to remain in contact with the surface . The ultimate goal , though , was to see how they could overcome problems in their collective search method - such as in a human-dominated environment - something which the ants adapted to fairly well . These might not be the most famous ants in space you remember : Homer , in the 15th episode of the fifth season of The Simpsons ( Deep Space Homer ) accidentally crashes in to an ant colony while in space ( shown )
Researcher in California studied ants in zero gravity on the BBC . Astronauts were asked to monitor the ants in eight habitats on the station . When the ants tried to search , they struggled to keep their grip . Some remained floating around for up to eight seconds at a time .