Ants trapped in a Soviet nuclear bunker survived for years (2019)(sciencealert.com)
sciencealert.com
Ants trapped in a Soviet nuclear bunker survived for years (2019)
https://www.sciencealert.com/ants-trapped-in-an-old-soviet-nuclear-bunker-survived-for-years-by-turning-on-their-own
30 comments
No, they didn't survive for years. They died after a short time, but their ranks were continually replenished by fresh ants falling from a colony above.
I guess the interesting thing is they built and maintained a nest which looked mostly like a colony. The colony's food source being the fresh falling ants you mentioned.
> "In total darkness, they have constructed an earthen mound, which they have maintained all-year-round by moulding it and keeping the nest entrances open," researchers wrote in a study in 2016, noting these ants are "a far cry from a fully functional colony".
> "In total darkness, they have constructed an earthen mound, which they have maintained all-year-round by moulding it and keeping the nest entrances open," researchers wrote in a study in 2016, noting these ants are "a far cry from a fully functional colony".
With no queen how could they reproduce down there after the originals died of old age though?
The ants who fell in died after a while, but the story is really about how they survived to form a colony close to a million through survival by cannibalism.
ants of Theseus
This is the kind of story older ants tell young ones about what happens when you stray into dark and forbidden tunnels.
So very happy that the story ended with them giving the trapped ants a path back to their colony
No, they gave the cannibal ants a link to a new food source. Imagine you're living in your house, your neighborhood, and there's this large pit in the center, where the cannibals live. They're 30ft down so they can't get out, so you don't have to worry. Then someone puts a ladder down to them. Start of a horror movie if you ask me.
This comment is full of interesting questions! Would they return to being normal ants due to the environment shift? If they are now truly just "cannibal ants" and not regular ants acting in an opportunistic cannibal manner, would they even bother going to the colony, or would they just kinda zombie around eating other ants? And do these new ant types need to function together in this new style?
actually there was a chinese serial killer that used a technique like this.
He had a septic tank and threw his victims in along with the dead bodies of his previous victims and would only let them out if they brought more victims from a train station. article is partially paywalled but is the case in question.
https://archive.is/QxBDr
https://medium.com/crimes-by-mr-o/this-teacher-was-thrown-in...
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> In 2016, researchers installed a wooden boardwalk (below) in the bunker, connecting the ventilation pipe to the ground. Within four months, nearly all the trapped ants had deserted the bunker floor.
It sort of feels like the ruined a good experiment.
It sort of feels like the ruined a good experiment.
"Difficult to tell from this vantage point if they will consume the captive Earth-men or merely enslave them...one thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here! And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. Like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar-caves."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4jWAwUb63c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4jWAwUb63c
Why didn't they just climb out the ventilation shaft they fell in? Can’t they walk on the ceiling?
From the research paper: https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/38972/element/2/11//
> The upper part of the ant trail in Fig. 1; the ants (on the left) were unable to move along the ceiling and thus could not reach the outlet of the ventilation pipe. Photo taken on 18.09.2016 (Wojciech Stephan).
> The upper part of the ant trail in Fig. 1; the ants (on the left) were unable to move along the ceiling and thus could not reach the outlet of the ventilation pipe. Photo taken on 18.09.2016 (Wojciech Stephan).
Literal hell for ants, until they were saved by a supreme being.
"Boy am I glad not have consciousness right now" the ant said, as the nearby ants start tearing at him, in the cold pitch black of a nuclear bunker.
Vyell, fak.
Imagine visiting the basement at Omelas and this happens.
Poor ants.
Imagine visiting the basement at Omelas and this happens.
Poor ants.
(2019) with ants
This plotline is reminiscent of the horror plot in Pandorum, but it’s set in the world of ants.
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