Get Rid of Carpenter Ants

Please Subscribe To The WhyEvolutionIsTrue Youtube Channel. www.youtube.com BBC Documentary List: tinyurl.com NatureTech Episode List: tinyurl.com Broadcast (2006) Lifepower : Nature has to be efficient in the way it processes information and uses energy so when scientists began to look at nature with biomimetic eyes, it’s not surprising that they started to see entirely new visions for our future. Nature’s power stations are everywhere — in the form of leaves. They run on sunlight and their main waste product is oxygen. Now scientists have succeeded in building an artificial leaf, which could produce hydrogen — the fuel of the future — powered by nothing but sunlight. And when we park out new non-polluting cars at home or work, what will the buildings be like? For that, scientists are looking at prairie dogs and termites. In Namibia we watch scientists laboriously fill a 3 metre high termite mound with latex, then, under the burning sun, shave away a few millimetres of the mound at a time and photograph it. The end result is the first ever complete 3D model of a termite mound, and it reveals some remarkable stories of how the termites control temperature, carbon dioxide and humidity in the nest. Understanding this, there’s no reason why we can’t build our own tower blocks on the same principles. NatureTech, a multi-award-winning series, explores “biomimetics” – the science of looking to nature for answers to modern problems. Why are blossoms never dirty and can we …

Technorati Tags: adaptations, ancestor, architecture, artificial, BBC, biology, biomimetics, chemistry, common, computer, definition, design, documentary, educational, ENERGY, environment, evidence, evolution, evolve, fossils, futuristic, High, hitec, inventions, model, mutations, natural, nature, naturetech, origin, physics, record, robots, science, selection, series, species, tech, technology, television, theory, variation, wilderness, Wildlife

No Comments yet »

Please Subscribe To The WhyEvolutionIsTrue Youtube Channel. www.youtube.com BBC Documentary List: tinyurl.com NatureTech Episode List: tinyurl.com Broadcast (2006) Lifepower : Nature has to be efficient in the way it processes information and uses energy so when scientists began to look at nature with biomimetic eyes, it’s not surprising that they started to see entirely new visions for our future. Nature’s power stations are everywhere — in the form of leaves. They run on sunlight and their main waste product is oxygen. Now scientists have succeeded in building an artificial leaf, which could produce hydrogen — the fuel of the future — powered by nothing but sunlight. And when we park out new non-polluting cars at home or work, what will the buildings be like? For that, scientists are looking at prairie dogs and termites. In Namibia we watch scientists laboriously fill a 3 metre high termite mound with latex, then, under the burning sun, shave away a few millimetres of the mound at a time and photograph it. The end result is the first ever complete 3D model of a termite mound, and it reveals some remarkable stories of how the termites control temperature, carbon dioxide and humidity in the nest. Understanding this, there’s no reason why we can’t build our own tower blocks on the same principles. NatureTech, a multi-award-winning series, explores “biomimetics” – the science of looking to nature for answers to modern problems. Why are blossoms never dirty and can we …

Technorati Tags: adaptations, ancestor, architecture, artificial, BBC, biology, biomimetics, chemistry, common, computer, definition, design, documentary, educational, ENERGY, environment, evidence, evolution, evolve, fossils, futuristic, High, hitec, inventions, model, mutations, natural, nature, naturetech, origin, physics, record, robots, science, selection, series, species, tech, technology, television, theory, variation, wilderness, Wildlife

No Comments yet »

Please Subscribe To The WhyEvolutionIsTrue Youtube Channel. www.youtube.com BBC Documentary List: tinyurl.com NatureTech Episode List: tinyurl.com Broadcast (2006) Lifepower : Nature has to be efficient in the way it processes information and uses energy so when scientists began to look at nature with biomimetic eyes, it’s not surprising that they started to see entirely new visions for our future. Nature’s power stations are everywhere — in the form of leaves. They run on sunlight and their main waste product is oxygen. Now scientists have succeeded in building an artificial leaf, which could produce hydrogen — the fuel of the future — powered by nothing but sunlight. And when we park out new non-polluting cars at home or work, what will the buildings be like? For that, scientists are looking at prairie dogs and termites. In Namibia we watch scientists laboriously fill a 3 metre high termite mound with latex, then, under the burning sun, shave away a few millimetres of the mound at a time and photograph it. The end result is the first ever complete 3D model of a termite mound, and it reveals some remarkable stories of how the termites control temperature, carbon dioxide and humidity in the nest. Understanding this, there’s no reason why we can’t build our own tower blocks on the same principles. NatureTech, a multi-award-winning series, explores “biomimetics” – the science of looking to nature for answers to modern problems. Why are blossoms never dirty and can we …

Technorati Tags: adaptations, ancestor, architecture, artificial, BBC, biology, biomimetics, chemistry, common, computer, definition, design, documentary, educational, ENERGY, environment, evidence, evolution, evolve, fossils, futuristic, High, hitec, inventions, model, mutations, natural, nature, naturetech, origin, physics, record, robots, science, selection, series, species, tech, technology, television, theory, variation, wilderness, Wildlife

No Comments yet »

Please Subscribe To The WhyEvolutionIsTrue Youtube Channel. www.youtube.com BBC Documentary List: tinyurl.com NatureTech Episode List: tinyurl.com Broadcast (2006) Lifepower : Nature has to be efficient in the way it processes information and uses energy so when scientists began to look at nature with biomimetic eyes, it’s not surprising that they started to see entirely new visions for our future. Nature’s power stations are everywhere — in the form of leaves. They run on sunlight and their main waste product is oxygen. Now scientists have succeeded in building an artificial leaf, which could produce hydrogen — the fuel of the future — powered by nothing but sunlight. And when we park out new non-polluting cars at home or work, what will the buildings be like? For that, scientists are looking at prairie dogs and termites. In Namibia we watch scientists laboriously fill a 3 metre high termite mound with latex, then, under the burning sun, shave away a few millimetres of the mound at a time and photograph it. The end result is the first ever complete 3D model of a termite mound, and it reveals some remarkable stories of how the termites control temperature, carbon dioxide and humidity in the nest. Understanding this, there’s no reason why we can’t build our own tower blocks on the same principles. NatureTech, a multi-award-winning series, explores “biomimetics” – the science of looking to nature for answers to modern problems. Why are blossoms never dirty and can we …

Technorati Tags: adaptations, ancestor, architecture, artificial, BBC, biology, biomimetics, chemistry, common, computer, definition, design, documentary, educational, ENERGY, environment, evidence, evolution, evolve, fossils, futuristic, High, hitec, inventions, model, mutations, natural, nature, naturetech, origin, physics, record, robots, science, selection, series, species, tech, technology, television, theory, variation, wilderness, Wildlife

No Comments yet »

Scientists believe they have solved the mystery of why some chimpanzees are so good at catching termites. A team working in the Republic of Congo discovered that the chimps are crafting brush-tipped “fishing rods” to scoop the insects out of their nests. They filmed the wild primates using their teeth to fashion the tools. Writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the researchers said the probes’ frayed ends helped the chimpanzees to collect more termites. Lead researcher Crickette Sanz, from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said: “They have invented a way to improve their termite-fishing technique.” Previous studies have suggested that wild chimpanzees use brush-tipped tools to fish for termites. But until now it has been unclear whether this was a specially crafted design feature or whether the frayed edges were a by-product of repeated tool use. Using remote cameras to film the chimps as they sought out their insect snacks, the team was able to find an answer. Dr Sanz told the BBC: “We found that in the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of Congo, the chimpanzees were modifying their termite-fishing tools with a special brush tip.” To make their rods, the chimps first picked some stems from the Marantaceae plant and plucked off the leaves. “They then pulled the herb stems through their teeth, which were partially closed, to make the brush and they also attended to the brush by sometimes pulling apart the fibres to …

Technorati Tags: biology, chimpanzee, Chimps, crafting, fishing, hunt, hunting, journal, Letters, monkey, monkeys, nature, rod, Royal, Society, termites, tools, Wild, Wildlife

No Comments yet »

You will know where the makers of Alien movies got the idea for the alien queen. This is a wonderful shot from Life in the Undergrowth series.

Technorati Tags: biology, David Attenborough, life in the undergrowth, science, termite queen, zoology

No Comments yet »

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is an invasive species in the Southern USA, originally being native in South America. The species disperses rapidly and eliminates in the US native insect species respectively native fire ants. Nests can be found nearly everywhere, on cemeteries as well as in private yards or along the streets. The hurtful sting of a worker can cause allergic reactions. To become able to control this ant, all kinds of knowledge about its biology are needed. Not so much is known about cohabitants inside the ant nests. Many arthropods and other small animals are known to be regular coresidents in ant nests. Some studies about the biodiversity in the nests of S. invicta were already done. Often, there is not so much known about the biology of discovered species. Several species of mites live in the fire ant nests. Some belong to the Astigmata. At least 3 species of Histiostomatidae (subgroup of the Astigmata) were discovered. They obviously all represent new species. A colleague and me, weI described Histiostoma blomquisti as a new species. Many details about its biology/ecology are still unknown. We know that the phoretic dispersal stage, the deutonymph, attaches only active queens and female alates (only accidentally sometimes males). Female alates are used as carriers for the phoretic transport. They carry the mites from one nest into a new one. That way they act as a kind of stowaways. They leave the ants inside the nest to continue their …

Technorati Tags: Acari, Acarologie, acarology, alate, ant queen, Artenvielfalt, Astigmata, behaviour, biodiversity, biology, carrier, cohabitants, control, deutonymph, Deutonymphe, dispersal, ecology, evolution, female alate, Feuerameise, Fire Ants, Histiostoma, Histiostoma blomquisti, Histiostomatidae, insects, Milben, mites, nest, Ökologie, pest, Phoresie, phoresy, queen, red imported fire ant, research, Saugnapfplatte, Solenopsis invicta, Stefan Wirth, Strategy, sucker plate, Verbreitung, wirthstef

No Comments yet »

a second part to the first video of the same name. See description on part 1 Visit www.antlab.gatech.edu for more information and be sure to check out my other uploaded videos

Technorati Tags: ant, biology, fire, floating, hydrophobic, lapse, nature, organic, raft, repellent, science, self-assembly, time, viscoelastic, water

25 Comments »

Micah Streiff, Nathan Mlot, Sho Shinotsuka, Alex Alexeev, David Hu, “Ants as Fluids: Physics-Inspired Biology,” ArXiv, 15 Oct 2010. arxiv.org “Fire ants use their claws to grip diverse surfaces, including each other. As a result of their mutual adhesion and large numbers, ant colonies flow like inanimate fluids. In this sequence of films, we demonstrate how ants behave similarly to the spreading of drops, the capillary rise of menisci, and gravity-driven flow down a wall. By emulating the flow of fluids, ant colonies can remain united under stressful conditions.”

Technorati Tags: Ants, biology, colonies, fluid mechanics

5 Comments »

Fire ants float on the surface of water inside a bucket and are subsequently scooped into a clear plastic bin where they will be kept in a lab. Notice how the ants hang off the edge of the ladle used to scoop them up. Visit www.antlab.gatech.edu for more information and be sure to check out my other uploaded videos

Technorati Tags: ant, biology, fire, floating, hydrophobic, lapse, nature, organic, raft, repellent, science, self-assembly, time, viscoelastic, water

25 Comments »