From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Fri Jan 24 2003 - 20:53:40 MST
spike
Michael M. Butler wrote:
> http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/24/bugs.breathe.ap/
>
> One more structure (the insect trachea) turns out to be dynamic, rather
> than static.
Coool, thanks Mike. {8-]
Im still pondering how to create an instrument for
measuring ant velocity after an observation I mentioned
online a few months ago. Ants were walking up into my
trash can, presumably biting off something edible, then
walking back down to their hill somewhere. I moved
the can out onto the curb. The ants that were still
inside came down the can, reached the pavement, lost
the trail, walked around in apparent confusion (or
in whatever is the ant equivalent of confusion) then
ended up getting back onto the can and walking back
up. They were still doing this several hours later,
but I think they may have been walking slower after
that period of time. Eventually some cluey ant
realized she had made perhaps several hundred
round trips, and still wasn't finding home. She
evidently wandered off and the rest followed.
I want to create a device to watch the ants over
a period of hours and record the flow and speed.
I have a digital video camera, but I haven't figured
out how to get the signal to the computer and have
the computer interpret the signal and reduce the
data. Suggestions welcome. My programming skill
is modest, but I know how to stack lenses to
focus a camera up close, and I would be willing
to spend up to about 500 bucks if a suitable
commercial product is available.
spike
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