[HN Gopher] Fire Ants Form Rafts (2017)
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Fire Ants Form Rafts (2017)
        
       Author : rsj_hn
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2021-12-18 22:17 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (daily.jstor.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (daily.jstor.org)
        
       | lbotos wrote:
       | If you want to see the ants in action:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilnv_YKgHog
       | 
       | (The narration can be a little campy but I think HN would enjoy)
        
       | rsj_hn wrote:
       | HN removed a leading "how", which in this case hurt the title.
       | It's a fascinating research article -- the link itself is just a
       | few paragraphs but it links to the full paper which is free!
        
         | yonibot wrote:
         | loved this - thanks for sharing!
        
           | rsj_hn wrote:
           | There are also a bunch of youtube videos about this Georgia
           | Tech research. This is a good research presentation going
           | over the physics of ant-rafts:
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORPEL30Wrzk
           | 
           | What's cool is how the ants keep airbubbles around them so if
           | you push the whole raft underwater, it turns into a ball and
           | keeps an air bubble around it. Really amazing stuff!
        
             | yesenadam wrote:
             | Great talk, thank you! David Hu talking about how animals
             | repel water: 1. ant rafts, water-repellent surfaces,
             | surface tension 2. mosquitos vs water drops, 3. mammals
             | shaking off water. Covers a lot of fascinating ground.
             | (It's not a great quality video but he shows a lot of
             | videos too which are mostly visible enough.) David seems to
             | have qualifications in biology, mathematics and
             | engineering!
        
       | igetspam wrote:
       | Can confirm. Little floating islands of pain. Very ouch.
        
         | akrain wrote:
         | According to the article:
         | 
         | "When using mandibles, the ants are careful to avoid hurting
         | each other."
         | 
         | Not too much ouch then.
        
           | majou wrote:
           | I read it as GP having run into one and being bitten.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-12-19 23:02 UTC)