What is Digg?67 Comments
- vonskippy, on 10/12/2007, -14/+45Big deal, one of my aunts was an Olympic swimmer way back when.
- chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -7/+38So, ants can fly, swim, and lift 100 times their own body weight.
Ants kick ass. - Roger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Wow. Ants are damn cool.
Always making humans look like crap. - vertigoblue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Without scientists, you wouldn't be able to type that on you computer, or probably even be alive today...
Smart scientists give people like you, the chance and the ability to live without being smart. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11yet another accidental scientific discovery
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11http://www.peterfries.com/junk/hailants.jpg
- ha$$le, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12I'm not surprised ants can swim, they are tenacious little bastards. There are ants in my bathtub sometimes and when I turn on the faucet full blast, those suckers hang on for dear life. The force of the water has to be like a human hanging onto a rock in the Niagara falls at least.
Then I squish the *****. Poor guy, all that work for nothing. - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9That's nothing, check out the floating fire ant death balls some people have to deal with when it rains too hard.
http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id180.htm - chaos86, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11i believe its 20 times their own weight (google'd)
- Corgana, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15thats so not funny.. :-D
- link470, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10fantastic, now we're screwed. [jk]
- jguerry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6and biting us in the ass all the time too!
- lordsandwich, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6And now our magnifying glasses are useless against them. :(
- djblast, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6wtf is next? underwater ant hills?
- turion64, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What's even more amazing than their ability to swim, is that they actually survive underwater, in "air pockets." It's actually quite mezmerizing, what will we discover next?
- CptnObvious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This is just great, when they invade my house now I can't drown them. Guess I just have to use my shoe of justice.
- monolith, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4http://digg.com/science/Gliding_Ants._Videos_of_ants_gliding_back_to_their_tree_trunks.
- vertigoblue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2i had a children's science/nature type book from when i was 7 (15 yrs ago) that had swimming red ants depicted in it.
it showed them swimming and holding on to each other to form a "boat" for sea travel.
i am not exaggerating! - Slackwise, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Am I the only one to notice the place of origin for this story is "Townsville"? Isn't that the city of The Powerpuff Girls?
"The team from Townsville's James Cook University is receiving international recognition for its discovery of polyrhachis sokolova."
God, I'm such a dork. :-/ - monolith, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Please note, my above comment is about alej744
- antdude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Guys, watch Life in the Undergrowth Episode #5 (Supersocieties). See a video clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/lifeintheundergrowth/video/nb/prog5b_16x9_nb.ram
- Flashman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hell yeah, that's why you don't take refuge in a tree if it floods in a fire ant area. They'll just crawl right over you... I think I'd rather drown than go like that.
- Flashman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's just across the river from Cityburg.
- yoops, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I do the exact same! An alliance is in order.
- JDOG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Like ESPN the magazine, Digg should have a "This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse" and this would be a great nominee for this week.
- Roger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'd at least save it for all that tenacity.
- monolith, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3OH MAN!
You just gave me months of nightmares! - rysolag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think it's a special species. Is this special type of ant living near you?
- punisher18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1thats what uve been trying to say *sigh* no one listens . i even posted the link to the original discover of that ant way back when .
- Bigcat1021, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2As long as they don't become a web design fad a la 1997, it's cool.
- animecrazy9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1fish ≠ ants
- whitehatlurker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Um. What do you mean?
They obviously have acquired the ability over time, (evolved it) AND it's a species not previously known to science. - newbietheatre, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2When Ants invade my kitchen I like to dribble water around them, they never seem to cross the water and I get the satisfaction that the Ants are held back by a tiny moat. Looks like I need to rethink my tactics.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Yeah, once in a while an ant ends up in the toilet and it swims around ... until I drop mah 10 microton A-bomb on it. For great justice.
- philomatic, on 02/08/2009, -2/+2They're mutating, god help us all!!! ahhhhhh
- CrazyForSW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Interesting, I wondering if the ants evolved to have that, or it was just a species that we never found.
- drbroccoli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2No, definitly 50.
- Ghostgum, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://www.townsvilleonline.com.au/?page=0&query=powerpuff+girls
There's the real City of Townsville. No Blossom, Bubbles or Buttercup though. :( - rysolag, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2the new ones go underwater.
- smartalecks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I thought red ants were cool, haha.
- jguerry, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1holy shnikes
- teoparsons, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0this is a very old news! the authors pretend it's new
See:
http://www.springerlink.com/(yy3foe55lec11cbbrpw3t0mh)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,7;journal,37,203;linkingpublicationresults,1:101198,1 - dosman711, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I for one welcome our new swimming ant overlords.
- gtojack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'm really trying to figure out what was so unique about this discovery. The waxy cuticle of all insects makes them water repellent. Often ants will be able to move small distances on the water. However, ants are not adequately adapted to thrive in an aquatic habitat, so more often than not they drown. But even so, the fact that ants are exploiting an aquatic habitat really shouldn't come as a surprise. Ants are one of the most ubiquitous life forms. Using the environment around them in any way possible is what they do best!
And given that spiders - another fully terrestrial creature - have also adapted behaviours to allow them to use an aquatic habitat (something they've likely been doing long before the evolution of the 'modern' ant)... then why wouldn't ants?
just my 2 cents
Jack (BSc-Zoology; MSc-Entomology/Arachnology/Animal Behaviour)
Spiders have been doing it for far longer. - animecrazy9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I think I'll make sure to have detergent from now on. Because that thing would totally suck. Hey, when you're swimming, only your head sticks out of the water... makes you feel all warm and cozy.
- punisher18, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1why the hell was my comment not dugg? it was the truth. This species was discovered a long ass time ago i even gave the link to the ORIGINAL study saying it was a known species long before ABC.com wanted to talk out their ass with half truths and lies. if you want to be mindless robots go on ahead..but if you want to learn..do your own research and start thinking on your own.
http://www.ento.csiro.au/science/ants/formicinae/polyrhachis/polyrhachis_tax_cat.htm - snatchedlaus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1We used to pour boiling water on them and they would pop!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1You would swim too if you were drowning in water!!!
- link470, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Im affraid so..., I've already recovered some of their blueprints
- monolith, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5This guy is an ass... really THIS is an excuse for a waste of oxygen? Who does he think he is? He is an ass. He sucks. He is annoying. And now its worse cause I read his post... oh yea, I forgot, this is only a joke about this one little ass in the middle of nowhere posting ant hate that I hope only a few people see... nobody cares; he is a loser. No comment digg.
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