Science Unlocks Big Head Mode For Ants
- Thread starter The Wooster
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So...I have to ask, and I'm sure there are more than just a few asking this as well...
When will genetic engineering start producing some Pokémon for real?
Seriously, even though this occurs in real life it looks like the kind of mutation of a common animal that pretty much most Pokémon are.
When will genetic engineering start producing some Pokémon for real?
Seriously, even though this occurs in real life it looks like the kind of mutation of a common animal that pretty much most Pokémon are.
This is exactly what I thought of when reading this story and it took the Escapist a whole 18 posts to reference it... For shame Escapist, for shame...teqrevisited said:
If you think about it, the ants' entire caste system is based on the fact that societies with a certain percentage of useful genetic aberrations work better than others. Soldier ants may suck at foraging, but they're good at fighting; queens are "only" good for sitting on their enlarged abdomens and pooping out eggs, which means the whole colony lives and dies with them; the only purpose in a male's life lies in that one ejaculation into a future queen.ThunderCavalier said:
And those are just the basic ones - some known ant species [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eciton_burchellii] have multiple worker castes as well as completely badass übersoldaten with razor-sharp hook-like jaws, while others have workers that use their abdomens as living honeypots [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeypot_ant].
Really, that's often how evolution works: Not on an individual, but on a societal/genetic level. It would be inefficient for the ants to have to run their own eugenics program and identify/cull the "defective" ones - since there is only a single individual responsible for the procreation of the hive (and thus one genetic template), it is only appropriate that evolution weeds out that information with the entire hive.
already prepeared for that scenario (thank you left for dead 2... you have taught me well) in the case of an ant uprising all we need is some good ol' petroleum and a lighter or a box of matches and we'll be safe until we run dry in which case im sure we can find a rood to throw ourselves offDoc Theta Sigma said:
You guys got nothing on Ant and Dec. [small]And they weren't very funny to begin with...[/small]Raiyan 1.0 said:
In all seriousness, in the words of Philip J. Fry, "is this going to be one of those experiments that crosses a line man was not meant to cross?"
KILL IT WITH FIRE!Colonel Joson said:OH JESUS CHRIST, KILL IT! KILL IT UNTIL ITS DEAD! Seriously that's bloody terrifying.
But seriously, I never thought of ants like that, and this is very interesting from a scientific standpoint. I think that what we should all take away from this discovery is OH MY GOD, KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
[sub]P.S.: I really hate ants.[/sub]
That's it. We're doomed. Nice knowing you Escapist.
Actually no, wait. Couldn't we simply use bigger insecticides?
Actually no, wait. Couldn't we simply use bigger insecticides?
I'm more thinking what quagmire would inject that "head gigantify" chemical into.rhizhim said:
Methinks it would not be his cranium.
Forget the ants. Y'know what's news to me? This statement:
Anyway, I wonder if this science will work on any other species in any other way? Of course, it's probably illegal to try injecting human babies with lots of hormones. Too bad.
Where I come from? No, no we don't.Grey Carter said:
Anyway, I wonder if this science will work on any other species in any other way? Of course, it's probably illegal to try injecting human babies with lots of hormones. Too bad.
