Ants Form Live & Kicking Life Rafts

After briefly analyzing the biomechanics of many animals, engineers are now turning their tools to some pesty creatures, the fire ants.

Engineers from Georgia Institute of Technology observed the notoriously and tough ants more closely than ever before and uncovered that they have a rough skin with hairy surface which makes it difficult for water to pass in, bit like how duck feathers resist water because of their small bumps. This can be advantageous discovery for those who are working on new and high efficiency waterproof materials.

Whenever fire ants see a risk of drowning, they engage in a amazingly effective survival mechanism. Involving a group of ants(sometimes reaching thousands) stack up, lock their limbs & jaws, and form a live and kicking life raft that can survive for months.

A single fire ant, when put in water, will struggle and flail. A detail observation, however, reveals a thin layer of air along the body of the ant. But if multiple of them come together, proximity pushes each ant’s individual air bubble against the next ant’s. This giant bubble  then protects the whole raft and its precious cargo, including the queen, off springs and the food.

This ant raft doesn't only hold strength but it also gives more buoyancy. Even the bottom layer of ants doesn't get wet. This unique ability of this species  likely evolved because they belong from a place that frequently faces floods, amazons of Brazil and Argentina.

This discovery is not only fruitful for people hunting for better waterproof materials, according to robotics engineers the fire ants can be helpful in designing blueprints for a system of programming many simple robots to work together, which can help accomplish greater objectives than one large clumsy robot.

Solar Powered Water Purifiers

Far off villages in developing countries might find these 40-ft long containers pretty useful — a water purification system that runs on solar power and is ideal thing to replace the noisy generators that run on oil, water-tankers and can save hours for people who walk daily to fetch it from distant sources.

That’s what the makers hope, an environmental technology group known as SwissINSO Holding Inc. This small company has succeeded in winning its first contracts and will soon be supplying these plants to Algeria and Malaysia. And now it is aiming to sell forty two units of what it says is the world’s “first high-volume, 100 percent-solar turnkey water purification system” in 2011.

Today's world of more than a billion people who lack access to fresh water has lots of room for this incredible system. It can also find its application in disaster struck areas and other fields like construction and military.

Company's Chief Executive 'Yves Ducommun' says that his machines(housed in the two containers) are capable of pumping a 100,000 liters of drinking water daily for 20 years costing less than $0.03 per liter, maintenance included. This setup itself costs somewhere between $800,000 and $1.2 million up front, depending on factors such as how many solar panels are needed to drive the purification, which filters out dirt and toxins, or salt from seawater, through a membrane.

This might sound like a lot of money for a village in sub-Saharan Africa, but when we see it on a scale of 20 years then it starts sounding nice enough for governments or aid agencies to show interest. The developers reckon it supplies enough water for about five thousand people. And can free them from walking long distances each day to collect water, therefore  allowing them to do other fruitful things, like working or studying.

“It’s a cost, but if you think of the cost of carrying water by tanker or truck to remote places, or a unit powered by diesel you are in a better position with our system,” said Ducommun. Especially with the forecast of more frequent floods, drought and desertification that'll arise due to climate change.

Magic Wrap

Now a plastic wrap can tell you if  your lunch fresh enough to eat.

Consumers often dump food suspecting that it has “gone bad” when actually it is perfectly fit to eat. Result is increase in the refuse the cities produce and wastage of food. According to the Environmental Protection Agency estimates; such food scraps constitute twelve percent of municipal landfills, making food items the single largest element of the waste stream of the United States.

So now, the scientists are developing a plastic wrap that will change its color when the food turns unsafe to eat. Therefore preventing the consumers from throwing away food prematurely.

Made up of “intelligent plastics” this wrap will warn the consumers as food looses its freshness because it has broken or damaged packaging, has passed its “best before” date or hasn't been refrigerated properly.

This inexpensive wrap is far more economical than high-tech equipment that inserts freshness indicators inside the labels or food-industry packaging.

It wont just cut down the waste-mass produced but it will also help save many live that are lost due to food poisoning and other diseases(an estimated 76 million Americans contract food poisoning every year.)

The researchers at Scotland’s Strathclyde University have received over $500,000 in funding form Scottish Enterprise, a government board. Hopefully soon they’ll be able to say, “that’s a wrap!"

Eco Domes; World's Largest Classrooms

Eden Project, as they call it is composed of giant eye catching open rooms planed to be constructed in South Korea. It will be a series of unique looking structures that are based on world's ecosystems & will provide a place for ecologists and ordinary people to examine the environment.

The "Green Architecture" has seen many things like smog-eating cement and vertical farms, but now green buildings will recreate & simulate entire ecological environments. Developed by SAMOO Architects and Engineers, the EcoriumProject spans 33,000 square meters of floor area. This project will feature an education center, a wild plant area, a wetland reserve, an environmentally-focused think tank, and a large system of interconnected greenhouses.

The scientists at Ecorium will research on multiple different ecosystems that are found in nature and find better ways to preserve them, this project will also offer a perfect point for public expos and education programs on ecology. The National Ecological Institute of South Korea aims to find ways to influence public policy and help environment friendly laws. And I thought my local science center was cool!


A railway track is also being planned to increase public accessibility. The greenhouses will include high tech equipment capable of modifying the internal conditions with the change in the climate outside, thus decrease energy needs. Each structure will be built out of metal panels, wood, and plexiglass, and look like a winding river, if seen from above. Twisting, leaf-like shapes will also be used throughout the architecture.

Genetically Engineered Salmon

New genetically engineered salmon grows two times as fast as its traditional counterpart

Some people can be freaked out on the idea of genetically modified food. But keep in mind that we have been genetically modifying plants & animals for agricultural & livestock purposes for thousands of years via selective breeding and similar techniques. Which means that major portion of the food items that we consume in our everyday lives has seen genetic mutation in one way or another. So now, you may find a fish whose DNA has been altered swimming into your grocery store.

"AquAdvantage" is a new type of transgenic(genetically modified) Atlantic Salmon who's genetic structure has been altered by introducing a growth genes from two other fish; the Chinook salmon & Ocean pout(an eel-like creature). This project has been managed by a bioengineering company named AquaBounty Technologies. The company says that the new product will be cheaper & plentiful than the unaltered fish.

The transgenic salmon grows twice as quickly as old one which takes up to 5 years to fully mature. The reason is that their DNA is joined with the genes of fish that mature all year long, unlike only in warmer seasons. Here’s a graph that compares the growth rates:

The news of this ”super salmon” just like all revolutionary things is also facing controversies and suspicions in many communities. Critics have dubbed it “Frankenfish” & are questioning if its safe for humans to consume. However, even after a lots of testing, the FDA(US Food and Drug Administration) has not found any objectionable health threat, so the suspicions may be unfounded.

Watch this news story covering the debate: