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Bio-engineer or breed ants to have a metal antenna
directly
physically linked to their central nervous system. This
can be
done by linking iron proteins in a certain configuration
and
adding a heme metabolizing component to its digestive
system.
If enough of these are sent out into the
wild a mutation
will
take place allowing some ants to sense danger or food
and
send it to other ants. This will provide a tremendous
evolutionary advantage. Soon there will be an entire
telepathic species of ants in existence.
EDIT: An
ideal configuration for the proteins would involve the
densest placement of iron molecules, physically adjacent
to water with electrolytes.
EDIT 2: In time we
can rely on natural selection to provide the most ideal
antenna shape.
EDIT 3: In time I wonder if they
won't end up stacking/linking antenna for more powerful
transmission over greater distances, allowing
communication across miles and colonies.
Natural selection chooses the most ideal antenna shape
http://deepspace.jp...icture_70_bw_lg.jpg
[normzone, Nov 17 2011]
They would use UHF
http://en.wikipedia.../Microstrip_antenna
[Voice, Nov 17 2011]
The heme protein seems ideal as a starting point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemeprotein
[Voice, Nov 17 2011]
Just refold to line up the iron. If oxygenated it would also increase the time the ant can survive in water.
http://www.uic.edu/...04am/hemoglobin.jpg
[Voice, Nov 17 2011]
Magnetic termites research
http://www.abc.net....stories/s721104.htm
[AusCan531, Nov 17 2011]
Images of termite mounds
http://www.google.c...AQ&biw=1024&bih=672
[AusCan531, Nov 17 2011]
E O Wilson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Wilson
Modern Master of Myrmecology [csea, Nov 18 2011]
God of the Formicarium
God_20of_20the_20Formicarium
Baked! - sort of. [hippo, Nov 18 2011]
anternet
http://engineering....t-discover-anternet
[Voice, Aug 26 2012]
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Annotation:
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Or we could bioengineer halfbakers not to post GM. |
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Cute but this describes the necessary mechanism and
so that objection doesn't fly. |
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We can at least conclude that it's not an uncertain one. |
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I predict magnetic anteaters. |
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So this would make the insects Anti-magnetic ... ? |
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<slinks off in embarrasment> |
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I'm trying to get from metallic antennae to transmission of information, and there seem to be several steps missing there. |
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Plus I have this suspicion that depositing a metal film on your primary sense organs is a counter-survival trait. |
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There are already magnetic termites which have magnetite
in their tissues enabling them to accurately sense the
Earth's magnetic field. They do this to build tall narrow
mounds aligned north/south which allows the nest to be
warmed by the morning and evening sun but avoid the
intense heat of the Australian midday sun. [link] |
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The linked photo shows how amazing these mounds are
especially when constructed by blind workers. Not
telepathy but a small start. |
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You gotta love a post that features a cheeky rhetorical
question as the sub-line and then spends the rest of the
text unintentionally answering it. |
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AFAIK, ants already have a much better communications system than telepathy, using chemical messages. |
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See [link] for a modern master of the science of myrmecology. |
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//ants already have a much better
communications system than telepathy,// |
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Why is it better? Why is a chemical message
(most of which are non-diffusible and require the
ant to physically contact another ant or the scent
left behind by it) better than electromagnetic
communication over distances of perhaps
centimetres or metres? |
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I love the idea, but I think it's a non-flyer. You've
explained how you might build an "ant enna" from
ironiferous proteins and, as has been pointed out,
some insects have irony bits already. |
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Therefore, you'd expect evolution to have already
stumbled on this trick unless there was a catch. |
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As you yourself have pointed out, ants have evolved a communication system best suited to their needs. |
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Adding an ant enna without knowing what needs to be communicated is foolhardy / asking for trouble / disaster prone. |
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OK, whatever (grumble, grumble.) |
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Aren't ants already telepathic? Anyway, [marked-for-deletion] just add genetics |
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I don't think you can [mfd] it for that reason.
[Voice] is suggesting a quasi-plausible (for the HB;
which would be demiquasi-plausible in the real
world) way to create a somewhat conductive
structure on an ant brain. |
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He's then arguing, plausiblishly, that this will both
radiate and absorb e.m. waves; and that evolution
will find a way to exploit this. |
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So, it's not just "genetically modify ants to make
them telepathic." |
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Not that it would stand a hope in Hull of working,
mind you. |
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Incidentally, either here or elsewhere I read
something about temporary radio antennas
consisting of jets of saltwater. So you might get
away without all the iron. On the other hand, this
is another reason to wonder why, if it's so easy,
evolution hasn't done it already. |
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On yet another hand, we know so little about the
behaviour of most animals that there's no way to be
sure that some of them don't use this already. |
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"Bio-engineer or breed" = just add genetics |
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Birds, for example, have magnetism detectors as
part of their central nervous system - who's to say
(apart from bird experts) that they don't also use
magnetism for communication? And then sharks too
can detect electric fields… |
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//who's to say (apart from bird experts) that they
don't also use magnetism for communication?//
In that instance, I think you could infer. The bird
has no plausible means of generating a significant
magnetic field and, in any case, magnetic
communication would work only over very short
distances (inverse cube or something). |
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Also, I just thought about fish. Many of them can
generate significant electric fields, and they use
these fields to sense their environment (a bit like
using a metal detector). Many can also detect the
electric fields given off by other fish (mates or
prey). |
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Therefore, I'd start by looking at the many
species of fish which use and sense electric fields,
and see if any of them use these signals for
communication. |
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How much time before they link enough antennae together to form a weapon? |
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Wonder if any animals will eventually pick up GPS? |
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I don't know. But any Welshman can tell you they
pick up STDs. |
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Come on, [MB]. The Welsh aren't so bad. I'd put them on par with the Dutch any day. And yes, that is a compliment. It's the English that make me most nervous. (Well, maybe after Israelis and Texans.) |
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Yes, I'd put the Welsh on a par with the Dutch too. |
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Of course, the Dutch produced van Dyke and the
Welsh produced dai Vinci, but as far as I can tell
that's about it. |
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