Fire ants - computer bugs

N

N_Cook

Guest
Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these ants have
stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports in S USA states ,
infesting computers in air traffic systems etc. No mention in the program
why jungle creatures have electric charge sensors in their antenna (stated
in the narration) but they naturally home in on live circuit boards
apparently and then swarm all over, causing mayhem.
Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms of fire
ants ?


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://diverse.4mg.com/index.htm
 
DaveC <invalid@invalid.net> wrote in message
news:0001HW.C84C55EC0120A490B01AD9AF@news.eternal-september.org...
Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior.

Diverse Devices, Southampton, England

Which show? On the Beeb?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...
The "queen bee" was quite impressive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gkrm2
Synopsis

This documentary reveals the awe-inspiring world of animal swarms,
discovering what happens when superswarms invade people's lives and, using
the latest camera techniques, going to the heart of the swarm to reveal how
the creatures therein view our world.

Real-life footage from camcorders and mobile phones captures the amazing
impact they can have. Killer bees mount an attack on an international
football match in Costa Rica; in the US the Illinois River boils with
leaping silver carp, an alien species that has hijacked the river, smashing
into boats and injuring people.

In South Australia a sea of mice raids farms, consuming and destroying in
their millions on a scale that defies belief. The largest swarm on Earth
erupts from Lake Victoria: trillions of flies blanket villages but the
locals have learnt to turn the swarm into a highly nutritious fly burger. In
Rome, cameras fly alongside ten million starlings, the largest swarm in
Europe. Their mesmeric waves stop many residents in their tracks, but as
they roost they smother the city in tons of excrement.

One man has learnt to control the ultimate swarm. He has become their 'queen
bee' with startling results, learning to control what most people fear and
to understand one of the most incredible forces of nature.



--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://diverse.4mg.com/index.htm
 
Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these
ants have stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports
in S USA states, infesting computers in air traffic systems, etc. No
mention in the program why jungle creatures have electric-charge
sensors in their antenna (stated in the narration) but they naturally
home in on live circuit boards apparently and then swarm all over,
causing mayhem. Anyone have any operational experience of PC
failure due to swarms of fire ants?

I purchased an anteater for insurance against a fire ant attack on my
electronics.
Click to expand...
But won't the anteater's saliva leave conductive traces on the board? These
could cause anything from minor problems to catastrophic failure.
 
On 27/06/2010 16:36, Meat Plow wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:59:49 +0100, N_Cook ǝʇoɹʍ:

Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these ants
have stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports in S USA
states , infesting computers in air traffic systems etc. No mention in
the program why jungle creatures have electric charge sensors in their
antenna (stated in the narration) but they naturally home in on live
circuit boards apparently and then swarm all over, causing mayhem.
Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms of
fire ants ?

I purchased an Anteater for insurance against a fire ant attack on my
electronics.
you know what they say, aardvark never killed anybody
Click to expand...
 
The "queen bee" was quite impressive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gkrm2
Click to expand...
I don't understand BBC's iPlayer archive. There's many programs that play
live on B1-B4 that aren't available for replay from the iPlayer archive.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:59:49 +0100, "N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk>
wrote:

Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms of fire
ants ?
Click to expand...
Not fire ants. I had a radio site invaded by carpenter ants that
eventually required replacing all the wood walls (former Nike site)
with concrete block. They never got near the radios, but made a mess
of the electrical conduit by using it for transit. I have photos
somewhere. They also got into the TV antenna amplifier. Nothing was
eaten, but they secreted some kind of acid, that ate the copper
traces.

More:
<http://www.hackvan.com/pub/stig/funny/geek/ants-in-the-machine>

Locally, we have banana slugs.
<http://www.google.com/images?q=banana+slug>
They'll eat most anything, but really prefer to eat service manuals. A
connoisseur slug invaded my shop and only ate the older Motorola
service manuals. Others prefer the sticky labels on my storage boxes,
post it notes, and white cardboard. The only good news is that they
also eat dog droppings. They're big enough to spot easily, but my
mess offers good hiding places.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
 
They'll eat most anything, but prefer to eat service
manuals. A connoisseur slug invaded my shop and
only ate the older Motorola service manuals.
Click to expand...
Gives a whole new meaning to "Motoblur". (You see, slugs move slowly, and...
never mind.)
 
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:59:49 +0100, N_Cook ǝʇoɹʍ:

Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these ants
have stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports in S USA
states , infesting computers in air traffic systems etc. No mention in
the program why jungle creatures have electric charge sensors in their
antenna (stated in the narration) but they naturally home in on live
circuit boards apparently and then swarm all over, causing mayhem.
Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms of
fire ants ?
Click to expand...
I purchased an Anteater for insurance against a fire ant attack on my
electronics.
 
Hi!

Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms
of fire ants ?
Click to expand...
Well, the circuit didn't fail and they weren't fire ants...but...

I had a massive ants nest show up in an Optimus STA-795 stereo
receiver. I noticed them moving around on the front panel, so I picked
it up and WOW! Ants were pouring out of the bottom of the unit. The
manual was underneath it, and they'd made some kind of a big white
thing on top of it. I don't recall exactly what I did to evict them,
but they never came back again.

William
 
On 6/27/2010 11:45 AM, Ron wrote:
On 27/06/2010 16:36, Meat Plow wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:59:49 +0100, N_Cook ǝʇoɹʍ:

Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these ants
have stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports in S USA
states , infesting computers in air traffic systems etc. No mention in
the program why jungle creatures have electric charge sensors in their
antenna (stated in the narration) but they naturally home in on live
circuit boards apparently and then swarm all over, causing mayhem.
Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms of
fire ants ?

I purchased an Anteater for insurance against a fire ant attack on my
electronics.
you know what they say, aardvark never killed anybody
Click to expand...
;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

(And it's illegal in some places: http://www.despair.com/effort.html )

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058

email: hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
 
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:44:03 -0700, William Sommerwerck ǝʇoɹʍ:

Watched a nature TV prog on swarming behavior. Apparently these ants
have stowed away on planes and taken up residence in airports in S USA
states, infesting computers in air traffic systems, etc. No mention in
the program why jungle creatures have electric-charge sensors in their
antenna (stated in the narration) but they naturally home in on live
circuit boards apparently and then swarm all over, causing mayhem.
Anyone have any operational experience of PC failure due to swarms of
fire ants?

I purchased an anteater for insurance against a fire ant attack on my
electronics.

But won't the anteater's saliva leave conductive traces on the board?
These could cause anything from minor problems to catastrophic failure.
Click to expand...
If you would have just Google'd 'anteater saliva' you would have seen
that its saliva conforms to the RoHS directive.
 
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
got into the TV antenna amplifier.
Nothing was eaten, but they secreted some kind of acid,
that ate the copper traces.

http://google.com/search?q=ants+formic-acid
Click to expand...

Some birds have even figured out that squashed ants are useful.
http://google.com/search?q=ants+crows+formic-acid
There has been speculation that they get a buzz off this.
 
William R. Walsh <wm_walsh@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi!

Anyone have any operational experience of pc failure due to swarms
of fire ants ?

Well, the circuit didn't fail and they weren't fire ants...but...

I had a massive ants nest show up in an Optimus STA-795 stereo
receiver. I noticed them moving around on the front panel, so I picked
it up and WOW! Ants were pouring out of the bottom of the unit. The
manual was underneath it, and they'd made some kind of a big white
thing on top of it. I don't recall exactly what I did to evict them,
but they never came back again.

William
Click to expand...
bugs seem to like heat, so things like vcrs were popular places for
roaches to live in.

you could tell from looking at a customer at the shop if you had to open
their electronics on newspapers and have a can of electronics cleaner
ready to kill anything that would run off.
 
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