I, for one...
November 25, 2010 3:11 AM Subscribe
From the article: "Paradoxically, it's by mimicking liquids that ants manage to conquer them."
That is not paradoxical at all, of course.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:24 AM on November 25, 2010
That is not paradoxical at all, of course.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:24 AM on November 25, 2010
Ants mimic liquids. Spiders mimic ants. Frogs mimic meaner frogs. What ever happened to authenticity?
posted by mooselini at 3:32 AM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mooselini at 3:32 AM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
British voiceover is sexy. Especially when she says "viscous."
posted by chavenet at 4:06 AM on November 25, 2010
posted by chavenet at 4:06 AM on November 25, 2010
This is why I've set up a company making a new soft drink beverage for today's hip young soft drink beverage consumers. Ant Juice! is guaranteed to be as juicy as a mouthful of ants.
Each bottle of Ant Juice! contains the refreshing essence of 6,000 free-range ants, who are individually massaged each day on our "Good Vibes Farm" and fed on ambrosia and some smaller, but also free range, ants.
These antsy little bundles of goodness are then lovingly hand-picked by pesticide free hippies, each one smelling of organic yoghurt and wearing hemp underpants.
Every bottle is also given the extra wonderfulness of a single, additional drop of thirst-quenching formic acid, obtained by acid hydrolysis of ethyl isonitrile using a HCL solution - but in a really "Earth positive" lab.
So drink Ant Juice! if you love "the planet" but hate "thirst"!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:48 AM on November 25, 2010 [8 favorites]
Each bottle of Ant Juice! contains the refreshing essence of 6,000 free-range ants, who are individually massaged each day on our "Good Vibes Farm" and fed on ambrosia and some smaller, but also free range, ants.
These antsy little bundles of goodness are then lovingly hand-picked by pesticide free hippies, each one smelling of organic yoghurt and wearing hemp underpants.
Every bottle is also given the extra wonderfulness of a single, additional drop of thirst-quenching formic acid, obtained by acid hydrolysis of ethyl isonitrile using a HCL solution - but in a really "Earth positive" lab.
So drink Ant Juice! if you love "the planet" but hate "thirst"!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:48 AM on November 25, 2010 [8 favorites]
That is one of the more terrifying things I have even seen.
Excuse me, I have to go stick my hand up a dead fowl and take out a packet of it's organs.
posted by lizjohn at 6:58 AM on November 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
Excuse me, I have to go stick my hand up a dead fowl and take out a packet of it's organs.
posted by lizjohn at 6:58 AM on November 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
British voiceover is sexy.
I used to think that British voiceovers were cool, but these days, all I can think about is the voiceover person binge drinking, publicly urinating, and getting into knife fights. Amazing what going to Britain will do to a person.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:36 AM on November 25, 2010 [9 favorites]
I used to think that British voiceovers were cool, but these days, all I can think about is the voiceover person binge drinking, publicly urinating, and getting into knife fights. Amazing what going to Britain will do to a person.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:36 AM on November 25, 2010 [9 favorites]
This is quite a coincidence, because I was just about to enjoy a hot, steaming cup of ants.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:48 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by KokuRyu at 7:48 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
That was pretty neat. It's like they became a super organism when they climbed down that structure.
Also it reminded me of the various tar creatures in some of Hayao Miyazaki's films.
posted by Trochanter at 8:36 AM on November 25, 2010
Also it reminded me of the various tar creatures in some of Hayao Miyazaki's films.
posted by Trochanter at 8:36 AM on November 25, 2010
That is not paradoxical at all, of course
At least they didn't write "Ironically"...
posted by benzo8 at 9:48 AM on November 25, 2010
At least they didn't write "Ironically"...
posted by benzo8 at 9:48 AM on November 25, 2010
The instant I see the New Scientist banner in my browser I automatically close the tab. I keep meaning to put the URL in my HOSTS file.
posted by alby at 9:59 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by alby at 9:59 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
That's cool but it won't stop me stepping on 'em.
You can only step into a river of ants once. After that, they are different ants, and you are going "ow, crap, they are biting me!"
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on November 25, 2010 [5 favorites]
You can only step into a river of ants once. After that, they are different ants, and you are going "ow, crap, they are biting me!"
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:02 AM on November 25, 2010 [5 favorites]
Holy crap does that website want to set a lot of cookies.
posted by jiawen at 10:14 AM on November 25, 2010
posted by jiawen at 10:14 AM on November 25, 2010
It's only when they can mimic beer that I'll be worried.
posted by orme at 10:17 AM on November 25, 2010
posted by orme at 10:17 AM on November 25, 2010
Water tension can be your friend: Ants create a lifeboat in the Amazon jungle, or your enemy:
Ant drinking from rain drop.
posted by cenoxo at 10:52 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ant drinking from rain drop.
posted by cenoxo at 10:52 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure I see the revelation. Many systems involving huge numbers of small elements behave a bit like liquids when viewed from a distance, including sand grains, crowds of people, cars on the highway etc.
posted by Popular Ethics at 10:54 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Popular Ethics at 10:54 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Someone warn Leiningen...
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 11:16 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 11:16 AM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I used to think that British voiceovers were cool, but these days, all I can think about is the voiceover person binge drinking, publicly urinating, and getting into knife fights. Amazing what going to Britain will do to a person.
Make me weep with nostalgia why don't you.
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Make me weep with nostalgia why don't you.
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on November 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
the voiceover person binge drinking, publicly urinating, and getting into knife fights.
Yeah, that David Attenborough's one mean drunk.
posted by Trochanter at 2:54 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Yeah, that David Attenborough's one mean drunk.
posted by Trochanter at 2:54 PM on November 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
So drink Ant Juice!...
Careful you don't get addicted.
posted by porpoise at 3:28 PM on November 25, 2010
Careful you don't get addicted.
posted by porpoise at 3:28 PM on November 25, 2010
The video reminded me of when I found an ant colony in the (hollow, ceramic) lid of my toilet tank, and spent an hour washing large black gobs of them down the drain.
posted by ropeladder at 4:37 PM on November 25, 2010
posted by ropeladder at 4:37 PM on November 25, 2010
Where I come from, this is called an ant mire. My grandfather used to dip a bucket into the well in the summer and pull these balls of ants out. He would pour it on the ground and the ants would un-liqufy themselves and crawl away. It sort of looked like an ice cube melting.
posted by Brodiggitty at 5:10 PM on November 25, 2010
posted by Brodiggitty at 5:10 PM on November 25, 2010
the quidnunc kid: So drink Ant Juice! if you love "the planet" but hate "thirst"!
Strewth, are you really just getting into that now?
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:03 PM on November 25, 2010
Strewth, are you really just getting into that now?
posted by GeckoDundee at 9:03 PM on November 25, 2010
What ever happened to authenticity?
It turned out to be a particularly clever ant.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:10 AM on November 26, 2010
It turned out to be a particularly clever ant.
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:10 AM on November 26, 2010
What makes that little old ant
Think he can move that rubber tree plant?
He's got high hopes, and he turns into a bizarro super organism♪
posted by Trochanter at 10:48 AM on November 26, 2010
Think he can move that rubber tree plant?
He's got high hopes, and he turns into a bizarro super organism♪
posted by Trochanter at 10:48 AM on November 26, 2010
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posted by Space Coyote at 3:22 AM on November 25, 2010 [4 favorites]