Study Reveals How Biological Echo Chambers Form—and What Can Break Them

Study reveals how biological echo chambers form—and what can break them

Tropical army ants are known to form devastating armadas that march through forests eating other insects and small creatures. As they march, they deposit chemical trails of pheromones that others behind them sense and follow. But occasionally one of these ants will walk in a circle, prompting a subset of ants behind them to follow until they all collapse and die.

Study reveals how echo chambers form and what prevents them

Study reveals how a few very general constraints can lead to echo chambers – self-reinforcing feedback loops – in biological systems such as birds in a flock, cells in tissue or ants in a swarm.