The idea is to apply the results of the experiment to the field of robotics, possibly in the development of the scavenging battlefield drones that may yet be the future of warfare on this plant.
Science fiction fans, however, will have a different dystopian vision in mind; the occupants of the ISS receive a considerably higher dose of radiation than they would get from natural sources on Earth. While human crews are rotated to reduce exposure, the ants are presumably up there for a while.
And any science fiction fan worth his (or her) sodium chloride knows what happens when you expose ants to radiation....
As a bonus, the post title, popularised by 'the Simpsons' and a host of internet memes, was inspired by the 1977 film 'Empire of the Ants'*”, in which another lot of irradiated ants, rather than destroying civilization, enslave humans to refine vast quantities of sugar for them.
I imagine Action on Sugar will be advocating a remake for propaganda purposes any day now.
*(Very loosely) based on the H G Wells short story of the same name.
I did not know that, I thought it was a Simpson's original
ReplyDeleteThanks for improving my knowledge on this Sunday afternoon
Me too!
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't it time 'Them!' was remade?
Good to hear from you, PC!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I thought so too until I did a bit of googling.
And, Julia, I agree - as long as Hollywood could be trusted not to ruin it second time round.
Is the video supposed to be the good news?
ReplyDeleteah now Google I cnas accept , If you had said wikiipedia I might be a little bit sceptical.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm still around
I still aten't dead as Granny Weatherwax would say. Mainly lurking at the moment, but I do read everything that comes along in my feeds
To be perfectly honest, PC, I didn't entirely trust the sources I found and, when I decided to sort it out, I couldn't find the quote in the version of the film on Youtube so I have amended the post.
ReplyDeleteThe Youtube video may have been cut, or the quote may have been from associated publicity material, if, indeed, it is related to the film at all.
Demetrius, for ants it is.
Incidentally, 'Them' was, I believe, the first major feature to make use of the LA storm drains which have played an important part in many films since.
Yes I would have expected to find it in the quotes section of Imdb page of the film
ReplyDeletethis chap reckons it is a Simpsons original
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/10/where-the-expression-i-for-one-welcome-our-new-x-overlords-came-from/
Did a series once on these ants. Good to see they've gone on to greater things.
ReplyDeleteYep, PC, I hold my hands up and admit to some over-hasty research to add a bit of extra interst to the post. The sophistication of the phrase is, I'm sorry to say, well above the linguistic level of the film script so full credit to 'the Simpsons'.
ReplyDeleteStill, it was only ever meant to be an aside to the main issue: ants in space, guys, ANTS IN SPACE!!!
JH, please feel free to add a link.