Children have been fascinated by ant farms for many decades now (as well as their parents who will quite often use the kids as an excuse to buy one). NASA technology allows us to see the ants in an entirely new and slightly surreal way, born from the problem of sending ants into space to observe their behavior in zero gravity. A standard ant farm with soil or sand would collapse instantly upon takeoff.
So, how do you get the tiny harvester ants with their powerful jaws and tenacious nature up beyond the blue? NASA rose to the problem and their solution was to create the gel that you can see here. Because of its chemical composition it does not collapse during launch. Wouldn’t that happen to the ants too? The answer is no – ants are incredibly resilient and able to withstand the G force of lift off with no problem.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.
This seems familiar to me. I could have sworn I've seen these gel type ant farms before.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjKEoSOoShk
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
If I remember correctly, the gel serves as both their living environment and their food, so rather than moving the sand as they do in typical farms, they just eat to make a tunnel.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
I bought one for my daughter several years back for Xmas. Just as in the standard ant farm, the ants are dead within a couple of months, having lived kind of horrendous looking lives trapped in a strange blueish gel maze.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
what are the actual g forces that ants can withstand?
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
haha astronaut ant food
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
NASA technology allows us to see the ants in an entirely new and slightly surreal way, born from the problem of sending ants into space to observe their behavior in zero gravity. A standard ant farm with soil or sand would collapse.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)