From the ABC

No targets set in APEC energy declaration

APEC energy ministers have signed the 'Darwin Declaration' committing the 21 countries to improve energy efficiency.

The declaration does not set specific targets, but encourages countries to set their own efficiency goals.

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Gus: yes, that's the spirit. save the world in moderation... in your own time... Better leave that "Darwin declaration" between quotes... It's no Kyoto protocol, is it? Just a small bucket of water to fight a summer fire storm with a 150 km front... Take it easy fellas...

Ants 'use manners' to cut through crowds

By Dani Cooper for ABC Science Online

Australian researchers say humans should learn from the masters of crowd control: ants.

They have found that a panicking crowd can be evacuated faster if certain types of barriers and obstacles are placed in its path.

Associate Professor Martin Burd from Monash University is using argentine ants (Linepithema humile) to model the behaviour of panicking crowds.

He is working with traffic engineering experts to develop better crowd-flow control systems.

Assoc Prof Burd, an evolutionary ecologist, says preliminary research into this introduced species of ant backs the 'slower is faster' paradox of crowd behaviour.

"If the average speed of each individual moving is slower, the whole crowd is evacuated faster, and ants are actually doing this," he said.

"Ants in a panic don't behave the same way as humans. They stay calm and are polite to each other.

"They are not trying to save their own lives, but are behaving for the good of the group."

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Gus: Gees, these researchers are quick... I studied the behaviour of ants when I was a kid, aged four to eight, during times I spent with one of my aunties... I spent hours and hours watching the little animals live their own lives in sand pits, while war planes were passing overhead... I could have told these researchers all about ant behaviour. There is never obvious panic but a simple speeding up of action into either removing a threat, escaping a threat or splitting the nest in various factions to help the new queens out... Crowd control? No traffic lights. No fines. We're too dumb and try too hard to live like that.

International army chiefs attend secret Sydney meeting

A secret meeting was held in Sydney last week between the chiefs of armies from around the world, including the US, Japan and Indonesia.

The ABC has revealed that the chiefs of army from 19 countries met in secret in Sydney last week.

With the city preparing for the Australian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, the security for any such meeting would have been extraordinary.