The Daily Ant
Myrmecology Dies in Darkness
Author: Benjamin Blanchard
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Are you interested in the phrase “dangling ant asses”? Of course you are. Thus, you will now use a mere 5 minutes to listen to this fantasstic 2013 podcast about honeypot ants, by Dr. Elizabeth Wason: [Podcast Source: hugabug]
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We wish all of our readers a simply thrilling 1st World Ant Day! Myrmecologist Dr. Mike Kaspari, in a flash of inspiration, realized that World Ant Day did not yet exist. Thus, on April 21st, he announced a date for a new holiday: https://twitter.com/MikeKaspari/status/987845284418981888 On July 23rd, Dr. Kaspari proposed a special way to celebrate…
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The Daily Ant hosts a weekly series, Philosophy Phridays, in which real philosophers share their thoughts at the intersection of ants and philosophy. This is the fifty-ninth contribution in the series, submitted by Dr. Andrew Moon. Do Ants Doubt? Do ants doubt? I will argue that they probably don’t. Some might think that ants don’t have doubts because they don’t have…
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Paula Poundstone, the host of NPR’s Live from the Poundstone Institute and a regular Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! panelist, included ants in a bit about her asexuality in a 2006 standup special.
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The Daily Ant hosts a weekly series, Philosophy Phridays, in which real philosophers share their thoughts at the intersection of ants and philosophy. This is the fifty-eighth contribution in the series, submitted by Dr. Craig Agule. On Blaming Ants Last week I made my favorite bean salad: grilled green beans, red peppers, and radishes. I put the salad on the table…
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We hear that today is something called “World Emoji Day“. It kind of seems like a soft promotional day for Vertebrate Silicon Valley. But if you must celebrate the holiday, do so with myrmecological style: Read our two contributed pieces on ant emojis, one by philosopher Gretchen Ellefson and another by entomologist Joanie King.
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Our Film Critic Derek Langston shared with us a jarring though realistic anime clip posted to Facebook two years ago, on the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It opens with ants and then… progresses from there. The excerpt is not for the faint of heart, although we believe that it is critical for humans…
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The Daily Ant hosts a weekly series, Philosophy Phridays, in which real philosophers share their thoughts at the intersection of ants and philosophy. This is the fifty-seventh contribution in the series, submitted by our editor-in-chief, Benjamin Blanchard. Northwestern Prison Education Program The ant content in this (Saturday!) post is far less than usual for the series, but the natural affinity between…
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Basically, we just like the name of Xymmer, an ant genus with two known species found mostly in Africa but also reported from Southeast Asia.
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An inspiring Hong Kong political party of the 90’s: the United Ants. Here’s a great bit on the party, aired in 1994: [UPDATE: Apparently the poster of this video requires that you view the video in YouTube! To do so, click the link after hitting play]
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If you must choose car advertising as a career path, please follow the tire tracks of General Motors. The unexpectedly formicid-forward car manufacturer recently produced an excellent advertisement for their 2018 GMC Terrain Denali SUV with voiceover by Will Arnett: “The Strength of an Ant“. Enjoy!
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Last November, then-high school senior Akshay Kulkarni reached out to The Daily Ant to share his love of ants with us. During our email exchange, Akshay referenced his ant adoption website, Antsylvania, and let us know about an invited TEDx talk he did with his brother, Akhil, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Well, now you’re probably wondering, “Where can…
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