As soon as you can verify that life has started more than one time in a single solar system (and we aren't near that really, but there is something worth looking into again) that means it's probably in many solar systems and BOOM you have to presume th...
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As soon as you can verify that life has started more than one time in a single solar system (and we aren't near that really, but there is something worth looking into again) that means it's probably in many solar systems and BOOM you have to presume there are space ants since ants are the most logical and advanced creatures in Earth's ecosystem and the temporary dominance of vertebrates is an aberration.
They will arrive and study us I'm certain. "What a curious planet" they will say.
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As soon as you can verify that life has started more than one time in a single solar system (and we aren't near that really, but there is something worth looking into again) that means it's probably in many solar systems and BOOM you have to presume there are space ants since ants are the most logical and advanced creatures in Earth's ecosystem and the temporary dominance of vertebrates is an aberration.
They will arrive and study us I'm certain. "What a curious planet" they will say.
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@futurebird Wot about carcinization, though?
This is a process that orbits the ant form without ever being able to reach it.
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As soon as you can verify that life has started more than one time in a single solar system (and we aren't near that really, but there is something worth looking into again) that means it's probably in many solar systems and BOOM you have to presume there are space ants since ants are the most logical and advanced creatures in Earth's ecosystem and the temporary dominance of vertebrates is an aberration.
They will arrive and study us I'm certain. "What a curious planet" they will say.
@futurebird Will they be organized like we are -- with out bi-pedal work stations communicating through text, speech and visual communications? Or would they be more inclined to maintain their structure more hive-minded, with chambers of workers?
How do they communicate across the colony? DO they communicate across the colony? I know they respond to emergencies but do they... have little "Colony newsletters" where ants from one section requests and communicates what is going on in other sections for non-emergency?
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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@futurebird Will they be organized like we are -- with out bi-pedal work stations communicating through text, speech and visual communications? Or would they be more inclined to maintain their structure more hive-minded, with chambers of workers?
How do they communicate across the colony? DO they communicate across the colony? I know they respond to emergencies but do they... have little "Colony newsletters" where ants from one section requests and communicates what is going on in other sections for non-emergency?
@creativegamingname @futurebird The ( eusocial ) colony is the reproductive unit. So ants are more analogous to our cells than to actual organisms with independent thoughts. Don't let their size fool you.
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@creativegamingname @futurebird The ( eusocial ) colony is the reproductive unit. So ants are more analogous to our cells than to actual organisms with independent thoughts. Don't let their size fool you.
@lemgandi I wasn't fooled. Just curious. They seem really organized and thoughtful, but I'm not really an expert on their world.
With my understanding of how evolution works, it helps the species along its path. Being as successful as they are, I'm curious if there would ever be a reason for them to develop more complex social networks.
A single queen can produce enough workers for a colony. But that is a limited environment with a finite amount of space. Astronaut Ants and colonizing ants wouldn't have that limitation in the traditional since would they?
Hives are self-sufficient (I think?) so they would need to maintain that sufficiency while moving through space right? I don't think a single queen could produce enough offspring to maintain more than one star-ship could she? I wouldn't think she could populate a fleet.
I'm not really familiar with how they, or if they, "talk". I understand they transmit communications to each other... but do they... "socialize"?
For example, I'm talking to ya'll about a subject I have no knowledge of, a little interest in, and a little bit of time to discuss it. Do... ants... do that? I understand we don't necessarily know (or at least I don't, ya'll might)
I'm just curious, right? They become space-capable, they want to explore the stars. They get a willing queen.... some workers... and they hit the stars.
What does that look like?
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@lemgandi I wasn't fooled. Just curious. They seem really organized and thoughtful, but I'm not really an expert on their world.
With my understanding of how evolution works, it helps the species along its path. Being as successful as they are, I'm curious if there would ever be a reason for them to develop more complex social networks.
A single queen can produce enough workers for a colony. But that is a limited environment with a finite amount of space. Astronaut Ants and colonizing ants wouldn't have that limitation in the traditional since would they?
Hives are self-sufficient (I think?) so they would need to maintain that sufficiency while moving through space right? I don't think a single queen could produce enough offspring to maintain more than one star-ship could she? I wouldn't think she could populate a fleet.
I'm not really familiar with how they, or if they, "talk". I understand they transmit communications to each other... but do they... "socialize"?
For example, I'm talking to ya'll about a subject I have no knowledge of, a little interest in, and a little bit of time to discuss it. Do... ants... do that? I understand we don't necessarily know (or at least I don't, ya'll might)
I'm just curious, right? They become space-capable, they want to explore the stars. They get a willing queen.... some workers... and they hit the stars.
What does that look like?
@creativegamingname @futurebird Best reference for questions like this is _The_Ants_ ( Brent Holldobler, E. O. Wilson, Harvard University Press, 1990 ). Ant *nests* communicate with each other -- fire ant nests establish mutual boundaries at least.
Ant workers communicate through chemical signals, either aerosol or through contact. I believe their communications with other ants are limited to IFF and prey/slave raiding.
