Top > In the News... > Fire ants
by Ed Hessler, posted on 7:59 PM, August 30, 2017
PZ Myers (Professor of Biology, University of Morris, World-Class Blogger) posted this incredible short film about fire ants.
The engineer featured in the video has interesting things to say about the nature of science and evolution. And I learned a new term (visoelastic), not that I needed another but it suggests where a degree in engineering can lead. What an incredible, wonderful biological world evolution has produced.
The Washington Post, 8/30/2017 has a headline about fire ants that if not over the top, is close to it. It reads,
No need for terrifying. The science is not terrifying but the result of adaptations fireants have for coping with water is. Science tells how it is possible and the suggested remedy is based on what is known about the properties of water and fireant behavior thanks to scientific research.
This great article by WaPo reporter Christopher Ingraham is a rich extension to the previous post on fireants. It has several short films and includes the work of Georgia Tech engineer Davd Hu, the subject of the previous post. The issue is that these critters cannot be flooded out because they can raft and are doing just that.
The result could be called firewater.
Minnesota science teachers should know about:
