Bees versus computers: Pea-brained bees win the "traveling salesman problem"

Just when you think you've heard it all about the amazing intellectual skills of animals, we now know that bees are able to solve complex mathematical problems more rapidly than computers. Bees solve what's called "the traveling salesman problem" and rapidly learn to fly the shortest route between flowers using their tiny brains. After exploring the location of flowers they learn to fly the most efficient route for saving time and energy. How this amazing cognitive ability can help us as we navigate information and social networks awaits further study. Keeping an open mind about the cognitive, emotional, and moral lives of animals is allowing us to learn more and more about the amazing world of animals, including surprises about who they are, what they can do, and what they feel.