Dhaka, March 11 -- Scientists have developed a faster way to create highly detailed 3D models of ants by combining advanced X-ray imaging, robotics and artificial intelligence, allowing researchers to digitally reconstruct hundreds of species in a fraction of the usual time.

The study, published on March 5 in the journal Nature Methods, was led by researchers including Evan Economo of the University of Maryland and Thomas van de Kamp from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

For more than a decade, Economo's laboratory has relied on micro-CT scanners to examine insect morphology, the study of their physical structures. While the technology produces extremely detailed 3D images, scanning a single specimen can take up to 10 h...