RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Have you ever just sat back and wondered, how many ants are there on Earth? Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have. In a new study, they estimate there are 20 quadrillion ants around the world. To put that number in perspective, for every human, there are nearly 2.5 million ants. They also found that if you gathered all the world's ants and put them on a scale, they'd weigh more than all the wild birds and mammals on the planet. Now you know. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.