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Ants... In... Space
Ant writes "The Fowler students picked an experiment with ants, rather than plants, because they wanted to see some activity in space. They have been following the ants' progress on the web. The students and their teachers also have learned that sometimes the best thought-out hypothesis does not pan out in reality. 'We predicted that the ants would tunnel a lot slower in microgravity, but we're finding out they're moving a lot faster,' said Golash. The students have a control group of ants at their school, living in a similar environment except with gravity. After the shuttle returns from its scheduled 16-day flight in early February, the young scientists will have 30 days to put together a preliminary report. Their "Ants in Space" experiment was sponsored by SPACEHAB, an aerospace company that has worked with NASA for many years to design and build hardware for space experiments."
How can they lift anything in microgravity?
Can they sort tiny screws?
Ants in space, pigs in zen. What's the world coming to?
What's next, SimAnts in Space?
YOU all look like ants!!!
If the shuttle crashes during re-entry, they can blame it on a bug in the system?
When we learn to harness the yet untapped power of the insect world, this research will make us the clear leaders in space technology.
Damn...to late.
Because things don't weigh much. (The things are also in microgravity...)
I can never tell if people are joking.
Ownyourphone.com. Custom ringtones, cheap and easy
SpaceAnts returned to Earth. Hastily dug, but severely weak tunnel systems collapsed. Ants all dead. What a bummer....
1. The ants were confused and scared. 2. The ants were confused and scared. 3. The ants were confused and scared.
Season 6 Episode 7: "The Simpsons already did it!".
I have 1 Gbps Internet access@home
I think slash needs a new mod point (weird) anyways..
When I was 12-14 I was really into model rockets. I lived with my grandmother at the time and her yard had all kinds of newts and salamanders in it.
"OOH ASTRONEWTS!" Was the first thing that popped into my head.
I forget the model number, but it was an estes rocket with a clear payload chamber on it. I placed my "ASTRONEWT!" into the payload chamber, taped the fuse on the bottom of my C6-7 engine and then backed up for safety.
"HOUSTON THIS IS MISSION CONTROL, BEGINNING FINAL COUNTDOWN FOR LAUNCH!" I could see the little critter had no idea he was about to be launched into the stratosphere as he wiggled and squirmed inside of his cramped quarters.
"5-4-3-2-1 MAIN ENGINES ARE GO YOU HAVE CLEARED THE TOWER" This was about the 10th rocket I had built that year, everything on it was perfect, the wings had been sanded down and painted in 2 coats, same went for the body. This thing had to be the most arodynamically sound rocket I had ever built in my life because it just kept climbing and climbing.
"HOUSTON THIS IS MISSION CONTROL, WE ARE SHOWING YOU HAVE DEPLOYED YOUR RE-ENTRY PARACHUTES"
The rocket had flown so high I had to hop on my bike and chase it down. It ended up about 1/2 mile from where it had launched.
"HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM"
I looked at the rocket, and inside the poor newt wasn't squirming anymore. I don't know if he had died from shock, g forces, or what, but he was dead. I would have guess G forces from the condition of the corpse.
Well, after that I ended the astronewt program. Yeah it was a fucked up thing to do, and I regret it as an adult, but we were talking about animal experiments in space right?
This is of these experiments where scientist make perverted experiments with animals which are totally useless and provide no advances for the problems of this worlds.
Most animal experiments can be done these days with artificial cell pads and simulations. There is definitely no need to use animals anymore. Furthermore the above mentioned experiment doesn't provide any new information. And it covers a niche of science which is partially useless for real world application anyway like feeding the hungry, stopping wars or curing illnesses.
I think our society has come to a very bad point when scientists make sick experiments with animals just for curiosity or to feel power.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
"Eh, its a job." one beetle was reported as saying, before munching on a space turd.
Seriously, I'm all for getting kids involved in science and mathematics, but this is probably one of the dumbest experiments I've ever heard of. Unless the ants evolve into giant mutant space ants before the shuttle returns, I don't see how this can be of any practical value.
I'm trying and I really can't think of any solid benefits from trying this. Couldn't they have tried to design something a little more practical, or was this just dumbing down the project for lower-level students, like all schools do?
I imagine some of the smarter students had some more interesting ideas, but they weren't accepted, cause lil john and jane wouldn't have a clue what was going on. God forbid we actually challenge kids to learn something advanced.
Mod Points: Helping you keep your opinion to yourself.
I thought the point was to get the bugs OUT of the system. Dubugging in micro-g won't be fun at all!
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Kent Brockman reports on Channel Six.
Kent: We're just about to get our first pictures from inside the
spacecraft with "average-naut" Homer Simpson, and we'd like to
-- aah!
[Camera shows a close-up of an ant floating in front of the
three astronauts]
Kent: Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but,
uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft
has been taken over -- "conquered", if you will -- by a master
race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this
vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men
or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no
stopping them; the ants will soon be here.
And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to
remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful
in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar
caves.
Today's vices may be tomorrow's virtues.