@futurebird@sauropods.win
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futurebird

@futurebird@sauropods.win

pro-ant propaganda, building electronics, writing sci-fi teaching mathematics & CS. I live in NYC.

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futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Math puzzle.

θ an angle in radians
b is a length associated with θ
there is a circle

What area is A=[θbb]/[8sin(θ/2)sin(θ/2)] ?

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Me: I’m standing here alone, the ship is waiting.
Chat GPT: All systems are go!
Me: Are you sure? Control is not convinced.
Chat GPT: I have the evidence, no need to abort.
the countdown starts

heysannidhi, to gardening
@heysannidhi@c.im avatar

Why you should let insects eat your plants

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240503-why-you-should-let-insects-eat-your-plants

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@heysannidhi

I'm always happy to see insects if they aren't invasive. If they are invasive they may get vacuumed up and fed to "the girls" the hunger of the girls knows no bounds.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@heysannidhi

my ant colonies

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

A new Milo video is out! It has AI art, and rants and squirrels and can we please buy this man a space heater?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqm6McJYbWE

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I wish the meter long beetles were real. Why can't I live in the world where they are?

:(

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

"... averages 31 years, with the longest recorded lifespan reaching 51 years. This meter-sized beetle is native to Mexico and Central America, where it inhabits dry and arid environments...."

Meter sized?

METER SIZED?

I need to stop using google the first few results it shows for simple insect questions are always GPT garbage ... LORDY.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The disturbing thing about ant technology is it's all ants.

The fridge? It's an ant.
Your tank? It's an ant.
Your boat? It's you, and other ants.
Your house? The walls are ants.
Your weed control for your garden? Tiny ants?
Your glue gun? It's an ant (a baby ant!)

So advanced high tech ants would have ant guns, and ant spaceships. Advanced ants would have ant computers for ants, made of ants. Advanced ants would have ants for storing data.

And ant bombs.

Wait! Those already exist!

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@joelvanderwerf

The cloud is someone's else's colony never trust that!

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

You might think this meme from the cat internet is about shaming the second cat for being lazy... but if you do? You don't really understand cats.

This is a celebration of cat progress. Posted as a brag mostly.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Soothing slime mold "fruiting body" slideshow with moody electronic music.

If this is for you you already know it.

I know it's not a lichen, but I also know how the people who follow that tag roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JHE6QPinFQ

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Simply putting colored paint on a few ants has let me discover that individual ants have certain spots they like best — Tulip likes to be on the highest point of this branch. If I don’t see her there I get worried. She’s a little camera (light) shy so documenting how often I see her in the same spot has been a challenge. She has preferred this spot for at least a whole month. Here are a few times I caught here there.

Tulip peers around the edge of the branch. She’s a good looking ant.
blurry tulip runs because so turned the light on.
Another shot that at least clearly shows it’s her since all you see is a blurry pink gaster.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I've also discovered that carpenter ants take the bugs I feed them, which are much larger than them, and haul them up into their little "tree" (
5" high bit of driftwood) I guess they don't want other ants to steal their prize. Kind of like a leopard. Or like a pack of cooperative leopards.

They will also take the food into a special room in the nest, but only if it's small enough to fit through the small entrance hole otherwise they stash it in the tree.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@TheSecondVariation

Well she does seem to spend about half of her time in the wooden annex nest sleeping in a pile with her sisters... though I don't know if ants see work in the same way that we do. I think they just get sad when they don't have "urgent tasks"

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@Heliograph

In this species the works live around 18 months, though Tulip is pushing two years by now I think. The queens can live for up to three decades, though 8 years is more typical. Their queen is 4 going on 5 this summer.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@Heliograph

It's the summer generation of honeybees that have shockingly short lives, even for insects, but especially for such dynamic intelligent insects.

Ants have more typical insect lifespans... but also really push the upper limit with the queens. There was a queen of a Lasius Niger colony kept in the UK that was confirmed to be 38!

We don't really know how long the queens can live.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@Heliograph

Worker ants live about 18 months. Queens about 8 years.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Hey mister binturong, you a bear? or are you a cat? or are you a big rodent? Or heck... are you some kind of raccoon? Which one are you?

mister binturong: yea

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@thepoliticalcat

Or do you?

futurebird, (edited )
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@llewelly @barrygoldman1

When I saw that hyenas were in "Feliformia" I realized I would never be able to sort out the bear/dog/cat/walrus/sea dog/raccoon group might as well call all the Carnivora "binturongiforma"

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@llewelly

There is an alternate history where there are all kinds of binturong and fossa and people see a cat and say "what is that? A fossa or a binturong?"

*people in this case might be 4' tall floresiensis descendants

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@trammell @llewelly @barrygoldman1

Felifornia? hear catnip's legal out there.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The overhead for the AI on a minecraft ant is so great that the mod creators limit the colonies to just 20 ants to prevent lag. Fine for gameplay 20 feels like a lot.

Interesting the kind of things they do: remember the location of their nest, find a path back, collect leaves etc. are so taxing.

In the real world a colony of 1000+ is typical. Some colonies have millions of ants. And real ants have much more to "process" Kind of gives you a sense of the scale of the intelligence of a colony.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@ai6yr @barrygoldman1 @Woodswalked @mycotropic

...rude...

jasonrush, to Corgi
@jasonrush@horrorhub.club avatar

Gimli doesn't like to drop the ball, so he keeps one in his mouth and kicks the "fetch" ball back, soccer style 😍

#Corgi #puppy #Corgipuppy #dogsofmastodon

A brindle and white corgi puppy holding an orange ball in his mouth while he kicks another orange ball down a hallway with his front feet

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@jasonrush

I thought this was a scene from The Shining, but it's kind of the exact opposite of that...

jayrockin, to random
@jayrockin@mastodon.social avatar

The back of a centaur’s head is mostly air. The long mane feathers mask the effect but the only significant organ back there is the vocal lungs, which can puff out the back of the neck even further. Centaurs visibly inhale into their neck before speaking.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@gay_ornithischians @jayrockin

oh no
o geez

eieio, to random
@eieio@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

I put Breakout (aka Brick Breaker) inside Google Calendar! It lets you decline any meetings you shatter.

blog info + chrome extension link in thread!

video/mp4

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@eieio

I've never felt so motivated to play breakout!

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@eieio

The ideal is to be calmly playing this during a meeting when some asks you if you can also please help with the committee to do The Thing.

"mmm? oh? Hold on--"
tapping arrow keys, bouncing sounds
"uh... yeah... yeah I guess I could do that... what do you mean... 'nevermind' ?"

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