Crazy Rasberry ants head for NASA

[Math Is Hard]

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9086098

The ants have been dubbed Crazy Rasberry ants after Tom Rasberry, owner of Budget Pest Control in Pearland, Texas. He first tackled this particular type of ant back in 2002. Since then, the problem has only escalated.

Rasberry told Computerworld that the ants have caused a lot of trouble for one Texas chemical company in particular. Not wanting to name the company, he said the ants shorted out three different computers that were running a pipeline that brought chemicals into the plant. The ants took down two computers last year and one in 2006, affecting flow in the pipeline each time.

"I think they go into everything and they don't follow any kind of structured line," said Rasberry. "If you open a computer, you would find a cluster of ants on the motherboard and all over. You'd get 3,000 or 4,000 ants inside and they create arcs. They'll wipe out any computer."

The Johnson Space Center called in Rasberry a month or two ago in an attempt to keep the ants out of their facilities. Too late. Raspberry said he's found three colonies at the NASA site, but all have been small enough to control.

'With the computer systems they have in there, it could devastate the facility," said Rasberry. "If these ants got into the facility in the numbers they have in other locations, well, it would be awful. I've been in this business for 32 years and this is unlike anything I've ever seen. Anything. When you bring in entomologists from all over the United States and they're in shock and awe, that shows you what it's like."

 

[B. Elliott]

That is wild. I've run into situations where regular little ants completely infest the wiring harness of cars, and they're a PITA to get rid of. If you do manage to kill all of them, their dead bodies are still littered throughout the harnesses. Then the fun is going back to see what they ate into.

I can't stand ants.

 

[Edwardo_Elric]

ive experienced this before my keyboard was infested with ants

 

[lisab]

I read about these ants before. They're supposedly attracted to electonics! How odd!

 

[B. Elliott]

I read about these ants before. They're supposedly attracted to electonics! How odd!

I don't know for a fact, but I'm willing to bet it's due to the heat.

 

[NoTime]

Computantion?

 

[edward]

Creative little critters aren't they.

And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants

 

[Math Is Hard]

I, for one, welcome our tiny overlords.

 

[binzing]

ive experienced this before my keyboard was infested with ants

Bad Edwardo! That's why your computer teacher always told you not to eat while on the computer. But yeah, that's prolly why they were there.

 

[wolram]

One day an ant is going to throw a bone into the air.