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Electronics-eating ants!

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Originally posted by: frostedflakes
They need to harness the power of these ants to eat all our electronic wastes. If we could figure out how to contain them, these guys could be very useful.
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Better yet, maybe they could eat radioactive waste!
 
Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Originally posted by: frostedflakes
They need to harness the power of these ants to eat all our electronic wastes. If we could figure out how to contain them, these guys could be very useful.
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Better yet, maybe they could eat radioactive waste!
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Just what we need - radioactive mutant crazy ants that eat electronics.

Actually they don't EAT the electronics - they have the ability to short circuit them when swarming.
 
Some of my masters papers and work were on ants (fire-ants for the most part) and economic damages in TX. It's a big problem, and just getting bigger. They love electricity. They burn out air conditioners which is killer in the summer, as well as traffic signals.
 
Originally posted by: lozina
This is actually a case of a military experiment gone out of control.

The US Military in Fort Sam has been doing R&D on genetically engineered ants to be used in warfare against an enemies electronic infrastructure. These ants were designed to be extremely difficult to kill using conventional pesticides and extremely fast to reproduce, making them ideal for the mission requirements.

Unfortunately, someone left the laboratory door open and many ants escaped into the Houston area...
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I think Wesley Crusher fell asleep looking at them through the microscope and they got out.
 
Originally posted by: Xavier434
Am I the only one who is looking at this as an actual potential problem instead of a joke? Obviously it is not currently a cause for panic or anything extreme like that but still. Assuming it is real of course.
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in a wwtp scenario, what was damaged? they stated pumps, but thats pretty broad. the pumps themselves are pretty sturdy, and able to withstand the chemical abuse of constant exposure to raw sewage and many types of corrosive gases. the controls, on the other hand, are easily fucked up with just gas exposure. usually they are encased inside a very sealed cabinet to keep this from happening. did these ants eat thru the seals and destroy the control wiring/ controls? if so, seal the boxes differently so that they cant get in and problem is solved. sure, this is all speculation but hey...

ive had to replace full control systems due to h2s gas exposure, and those sealed cabinets are truly sealed when i get there for the most part. the ones we build are still mainly dust free after years of use. i cant imagine ants being able to get in and mess up enough to stop the process.
 
We had those ants in Trinidad-- I guess the related Caribbean species the article mentions. I remember my dad's alarm clock being destroyed by them. I didn't realize that was a trait common to crazyants.
 
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Originally posted by: Lumathix
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Here's another good reason to put up a total blockade/quarantine around Texas...😛
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I'm curious to know where BoomerD lives???

😉
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People's Republic of Communifornia (Chinafornia).
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Hey...that's MEXifornia...get it right.

By the way, the idea of walling off Texas isn't new, nor my idea...

http://www.barrypopik.com/inde..._of_texas_border_wall/

"29 November 1985, New York Times, ?New Motto For Texas: Fence Me In,? pg. A20:
DALLAS, Nov. 28?When the ancient Chinese wanted to protect themselves from invading hordes, they built the Great Wall.

Kenny Bob Parsons of Dallas wants to protect his homeland from the hordes of ?foreign-thinking? Yankees who prefer white wine to Lone Star beer. And Kenny Bob Parsons is planning his own wall, a Great Wall of Texas.
(...)
More than a few Texans have stood up to join him. The Great Wall of Texas Society, founded by Mr. Parsons four years ago, has attracted 2,500 members and raised $35,000 for construction of a wall around 3,449 miles of the land border of Texas. This would be more than twice the length of the Chinese Wall, ?because everything?s big in Texas,? Mr. Parsons said. It would be 40 feet high and 40 feet wide, on the order of the Chinese wall. "


This has been discussed for almost 30 years. I suppose that they'll now merge it with Bush's "Border Wall" for greater protection...
 
Originally posted by: lozina
Originally posted by: jjsole
Originally posted by: lozina
This is actually a case of a military experiment gone out of control.

The US Military in Fort Sam has been doing R&D on genetically engineered ants to be used in warfare against an enemies electronic infrastructure. These ants were designed to be extremely difficult to kill using conventional pesticides and extremely fast to reproduce, making them ideal for the mission requirements.

Unfortunately, someone left the laboratory door open and many ants escaped into the Houston area...
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Link?

I read blame was conveniently thrown towards 'cargo ships'.
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I'll link you to the trailer as soon as I finish with the screenplay

😉
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Good luck! Remember, even if your Screenplay sucks, SciFi will make a movie out of it. Just put in a Sex Scene and you're good to go.
 
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