In a remarkable discovery, researchers say ants apparently possess the ability to navigate and use a compass route in any direction they might take, even if they are walking backward or spinning around.

Experiments suggest that ants could choose the right path by following the sun's position and combining it with visual data from their environment.

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According to the lead author of the study, Antoine Wystrach from the University of Edinburgh and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, the main focus of this study was that ants can separate their ability to travel in the right direction from the orientation of their body. They can maintain a direction of travel independently from their current body orientation.

Ants are unique due to their incredible navigational ability. They need to forage for food and bring it back to their nest, often hauling massive amounts of food over long distances back to their home.

Scientists have noted that even in they are diminutive in size, the brains of ants are complex. Wystrach explained that ants could construct any directional representation they imagine and can integrate data from different modes into that representation. They can also transfer this information between different brain areas.

By studying desert ants, researchers discovered that they rely on celestial cues. When a mirror was used to obscure the sun, they immediately go into the wrong direction. When they are traveling backward with food, they take a look at their route to find the way home back to their nest.

Scientists say that this finding can be utilized in applications such as designing computer algorithms for robotic guides and navigation such as a self-driving car.

According to Barbara Webb from the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, ants may have a brain smaller than a pinhead, but they can successfully navigate under many challenging circumstances.

Apart from self-driving cars, scientists suggest how the neural system in an ant's brain can become a model for robots that can also navigate difficult terrain and areas like forests. This study was published in the journal Current Biology.