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ANTWORKS® - A
space-age habitat for ants!
The
Ant-Astronaut Story
Ants are
fascinating creatures. Look at the ground on a fairly nice day, and
chances are you’ll see several scurrying around. The ants we interact
with in everyday life tend to be scouts or foragers. The colony, with
its impressive and complex tunnel system, remains hidden underground.
Visible ant habitats, such as the Ant Farm® product (Ant Farm® is a
registered trademark of Uncle Milton Industries, Inc.), provide insight
into the lives of these amazing insects. Ant Farm® habitats enable
viewers to peer into the mysterious world of ants and how they tunnel.
Usually made of two panes of glass (or clear plastic) and filled with
sand, Ant Farm® habitats and their ilk allow a micro colony of ants to
be put on display in a home or office. As ants tunnel in the sand,
viewers are able to witness a network of tunnels develop before their
eyes. Ant habitats using sand may also be created using glass canning
jars, and the like. Because you can’t really see through sand, the
visible tunnels are pretty much limited to those next to the outside
wall. Another important detail about sand and soil based ant habitats –
they don’t like to be moved. Shaking, whether from a strong earthquake
or human-made, can cause the tunnels to collapse – an Earth-shattering
cataclysm, at least from the ants’ perspective. This posed quite a
problem for the scientists at NASA, which resulted in an ingenious
solution.
The Gravity
of the Situation
Gravity is a
great indicator of direction. While we may not be certain which way
north is without a compass, up and down can always be determined. To
what degree, scientists wondered, do ants use gravity in creating their
tunnel network? If an ant colony were in a zero-gravity (technically,
‘micro-gravity’), environment, would they know to tunnel down – and how
complex would their tunnels be? NASA had been planning experiments
around ‘life in space’. The long-term goal, being to discover how
certain species react to a micro-gravity environment. Would ants tunnel
downward? Would spiders spin webs? These are some of the questions NASA
set out to answer.
The Problem
and a Creative Solution
Containers
for various forms of life were developed for space flight, however a
‘cosmic colony’ of ants posed a unique puzzle. With a soil/sand-based
habitat, NASA and the Space Shuttle crew had two, equally problematic
options. If ants were added to the habitat prior to take-off, the
tremendous G-forces would collapse any tunnels, killing the ants. Trying
to add ants to the habitat in a weightless environment might make for an
entertaining ‘bloopers’ video, but would be counter-productive for
research. Even if this could be done without the Space Shuttle hosting
several rogue floating ants, the tunnels would still collapse from the
shaking caused during re-entry. It became clear that NASA needed a
habitat ants could live and tunnel in, that could withstand a
significant amount of shaking. A special gel material was created which
would serve as a tunneling medium for the ants, as well as a nutrient
source. AntWorks® is based on this technology.
AntWorks® -
Clearly Innovative!
Fascinations® AntWorks® allows one to study the behavior of ants in a
unique, self-contained environment. Its special gel is full of nutrients
specially formulated for the needs of the ant. Because the gel is clear,
one can see tunnel architecture develop in 3-D – offering a new and
unique perspective from that of the traditional, soil-based habitats.
Fascinations® AntWorks® includes a container with a special gel
formulation, magnifying glass, 20 page booklet detailing fascinating ant
facts, and a special ‘extreme magnification lens’ with which one can
even see hairs on the ants! AntWorks® is amazing, new and Patent
Pending.
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