h a l f b a k e r yWhat was the question again?
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Most of the desirable material we mine comes in the form
of billions of tons of solid rock, so no, ants and gophers
could not be
employed for industrial mining purposes. |
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You know all that interesting stuff you're thinking about
right now? Go read about it. You may find answers to
questions you didn't intend to ask if you keep asking here. |
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If we wanted to talk to an ants' nest, we'd have to start by manipulating scent trails. If we could do that, then we'd not so much be communicating them as driving them like computer peripherals. Notwithstanding what you may have read in Hofstadter ... {pause for a respectful nod towards Hofstadter} ... It would be as if the first communication you had with another human being were by sticking electrodes into their brain. It might get the relationship off on the wrong foot. I've never seen it work out well. |
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The legal enforcement of the contract would be very difficult. Imagine ant lawyers. Now imagine ant lawyers taking the humans' case pro bono publico, just to patronise us. |
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And if there's no contract, then its not really trade, is it, so much as a kind of farming - like bee-keeping? |
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Now imagine the termites buying Manhattan from the humans for a handful of beads. |
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//Dr Stewart said much of the Australian landscape was covered by a layer of eroded material that hides what lies beneath. |
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... from the meeja link. Errm how many countries don't have a top layer of eroded stuff? |
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[marked-for-deletion] not an idea. |
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Why is this "not an idea"? The idea is to reward
ants with sugar in exchange for minerals. That, it
seems to me, is an idea. |
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Question 1 is whether ants can distinguish the
necessary minerals - I would guess yes, in some
cases. |
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Question 2 is whether they will "learn" to
exchange mineral grains for food. I would say
definitely "yes" - ants can be made to do all kinds
of weird stuff in exchange for a food reward. You
would however need some sort of mineral
identifier on the food station, to tell when the
correct mineral had been delivered. |
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Question 3 is whether it is worthwhile. No, for
cheap bulk minerals. Potentially yes, for things
like placer gold in (dry) sand, or maybe even
alluvial diamonds. |
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Sadly, we might have to pay/farm the ants to collect pollen. |
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