Off to Portugal

Portugal is not yet another feature of ASH1, e.g. a new den or a new channel.
Portugal in the context I use it now is a political administrative region of planet earth.
This is where I go for a little bit more than a week.
I have to leave the crew alone now, even though the times are difficult.

They should be fine without me. Antworks(R) say you only have to lift the lid once a week or so to keep them happy.
So I will give them an extra portion of oxygen befor I go.

Sorry there will be no status report this week. Picturs of the week will be posted when I am back.

Mausoleum Of Zacatón (RRR.III.PPP.)

Three more ants have died.

Zacatón Den is desintegrating slowly. I think they ran out of oxygen.

Unease in the Coruisk System

Meanwhile, whilst Zacatón Den is literally breaking away, ants created another connection from the Vietcong to Highway 1.
Yes, another bonk and at least some progress.
But this new passage has cut off C2 (the tunnel below Highway 1) from the rest of the Coruisk system, leaving another ant trapped.

Strange Transformation

Strange things are going on. Just look at the pictures!

I have no explanation why this can happen.

First somebody seems to carry gel rubble in order to obstruct the passage from Vietcong to Zacatón Den.

Then slowly these deposits seem to melt back to pure gel, cutting off the cave from the rest of the world, virtually leaving 3 ants trapped in an enclave.

And yes, there is a black bar on the very right picture: One of those ants most likely has already become a victim of this scary new development.

R.I.P.

Another ant has died.

Unfortunately.

That is very sad, indeed.

Pictures of the Week 03 (Expedition I)

Expedition I Weekly Status Report (Week 03 - 09/03/07->15/03/07)

STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Sunday, 18th March 2007
Source: Space Ants Blog
Current crew: Expedition I, ~23 members

The crew is in a stable condition.

This weeks highlight was the connection of a side arm in the Birnie system with Highway 1, which resulted into the creation of Avenida General Paz.

There was a security issue with one member who managed to escape the habitat via an air-hole. It was recaptured quickly and was safely brought back.
In the light of this incident, security measures have been reviewed and tightened. A fact-finding committee has been nominated.

Unfortunately, three heroes died this week whilst on duty. They were heroes.

The next status report will be issued in a weeks time.

For more about the crew's activities and habitat sighting opportunities, visit:
http://www.spaceants.blogspot.com

RRR.III.PPP.

Three ants died.

I do not want to go into details out of respect for relatives and friends.

Such this one: They died like Alexis Zorbas: Upright. With their fingernails clung into the windowsill. Well, sort of.

Another Bonk

When you just think it will not happen anymore, it happens: we have another Bonk.

The left arm which outgrew from the looping which once so elegantly created the connection between Loch Ard and Birnie Loch, finally bumped into Highway 1, and therefore brought to existence the habitat's third channel, which shall be named Avenida General Paz.

Well done, team!

Cenote Zacatón

I myself didn't believe it anymore, but there is some progress on the building sites. It is very slow though and humble when compared with the rush during the early days. Those times are history now, but it is good to see there is no complete standstill.

The crew shoveled a nice hole on the floor of Zacatón Den. This dip is now the most abyssal geological feature of ASH-1, and will be therefore - not surprisingly - named Cenote Zacatón, which is - as already explained here - the deepest sinkhole in the world, ever.

Short Freedom

Space ant on wooden background

Yesterday the unthinkable happened: An ant escaped.
While I was making my morning coffee, the ant slipped through one of the two tiny air holes in the lid of the habitat.
Fortunately I could spot her and return her safely back. Then I covered these air holes with duct tape.

Nobody was harmed. I don't take it personally.

The Great Escape Attempt

More worrisome is the fact that - soon after I put their world at a place by the window - the crew suddenly became full of beans. But instead of resuming overdue construction work, they used their regained energy to climb up the habitat's walls in an obvious attempt to escape.

This makes me sad, since I try everything to keep them happy.

I would even let them go if I wouldn't know that they wouldn't get very far on British soil at this time of the year.

Zacatón Den

This Saturday I finally had more time to spend with the crew. I didn't have the opportunity to watch them during daytime for two weeks now.

2 weeks ago it was their best time, there was a tunneling frenzy. They managed to dig about ~1cm per hour. Now we stand by maybe 2mm per week? If at all...

In order to boost moral, I positioned ASH-1 close to the window, so as to get them more light then ever before. I did not dare to do that earlier for fear that the direct exposure to sunlight may do them more harm than good.

The thing I noticed was that a bunch of ants quickly relocated to the cave below the Vietcong in the Coruisk system, which - previously - was hardly visited by anyone.

It is time to give this den a proper name: I will call it Zacatón Den, in honour of Cenote Zagatón - the world's deepest sinkhole (so far).

Pictures of the Week 02 (Expedition I)

Expedition I Weekly Status Report (Week 02 - 02/03/07->08/03/07)

STATUS REPORT

Date Released: Friday, 9th March 2007
Source: Space Ants Blog
Current crew: Expedition I, ~26 members



This weeks highlight was the confirmation that a connection between Loch Coruisk and Loch Dungeon has been established and is operational. This was achieved by the creation of a small connecting wing between the main tunnel of Loch Dungeon and the Avenida Atlantica.

No further construction milestones have been accomplished this week.

The crew's condition is stable, although there is increasing concern on the overall health (physiological as well as mental) of its members. The members still lack ambition and drive.


Observations have been also made that there is now a general tendency among the crew members to abandon the tunnel system and move north to the Highlands. Anatolia Den, the once most popular place, has been almost deserted in favour of the Highland's planes at the very west (Santa Catarina Plane) and at the very east (Bahia Plane) .
Officials say there are no immediate reasons for concern about this new development, but promised to investigate further.


The next status report will be issued in a weeks time. For more about the crew's activities and habitat sighting opportunities, visit:

http://www.spaceants.blogspot.com

Bonk!

Life is still sluggish here and the depression continues.

No wonder that we reach out for every bit of good news: After a phase of suspension followed by disenchantment, I can announce that we have Bonk!

I have spotted a small junction from D1 to Loch Coruisk, which means that travelling from the latter to Loch Dungeon is now much easier - no need to go through the highlands anymore.

I do not know when this exactly has happened, because access is very small and therefore difficult to spot, but I have already seen a crew member slipping through.

Well done. We have now a second channel after Highway 1. Its name shall be Avenida Atlantica.

Escape To The Highlands

Things seem to get worse.

What once has been the domain of some adventurous explorer ants, is now a common scene: If they move at all, they seem to abandon the caves and lochs and dens of ASH-1 and relocate to the Highlands.

Now I have even seen famous Anatolia totally abandoned for the first time (it looks like a ghost town). Instead, the planes of the Highlands are en vogue. Especially Santa Catarina at the very west and Bahia Plane at the very east.

This is a very threatening development, it just indicates that the crew does not like the habitat. I know from other ant colony reports on the web, that other people had the same experience: First a dream start with tunneling like crazy, then a slow down, then a complete halt, then the evacuation of the tunnels and the move to the surface... and then death.

If my crew continues to follow this script as it did until now, Expedition I will be doomed in about two weeks from now.

I try to prevent this by all means of course. I have already re-programmed my thermostat in order to produce some exotic temperatures. Praying may help as well.

Stagnation

Something is not just right!

I have to be honest with myself: something seems to go wrong with my ant farm.

There has not been any significant progress since days.
Construction literally stopped. Everything looks like frozen.

The whole crew is dronish and dull. In fact they do not move anymore. They only move a little bit when I gently bonk on their wall. Gone are the days when they dug 1cm per hour.

Pictures of the Week 01 (Expedition I)

Expedition I Weekly Status Report (Week 01 - 23/02/07->01/03/07)

STATUS REPORT

Date Released: Friday, 2nd March 2007

Source: Space Ants Blog

Current crew: Expedition I, ~25 members

This exciting week started with the arrival of the crew by Royal Mail on Thursday, the 22nd of February.

After a short stay in a BOSCH Exxcel refrigerator for 15 minutes, the crew was finally transferred to their Ant Space Habitat (ASH-1) one day later.

The crew only adapted slowly to their new environment, sticking to the initially supplied nutrient paper. Only after this paper was removed 24 hours later, did they hesitantly start digging tunnels.

The first feature they constructed was a small cave, Anatolia Den, where most of the crew lingered throughout the rest of the week.

Construction work was incredible fast during the weekend, where noticeably a connection between two lochs could be established by the creation of Highway 1. Later, Highway 1 was extended towards north-west and led to the birth of Loch Eck - the first naturally created loch.

In the early days, unfortunately, one crew member was killed by a rockfall in the Espirto Santo mountain area. It may well have been their chief designer, judging from the way construction is happening.

All in all impression is that there apparently exists no master plan. Tunneling comes to pass very "ad hoc".

At the end of the first week, construction slowed down significantly and virtually came to an end, which raises lots of serious concerns about the overall health of Expedition I. It seems that some members never leave Anatolia Den, are slack and inanimate.

The next status report will be issued in a weeks time, and not earlier - even if events warrant. For more about the crew's activities and habitat sighting opportunities, visit:

http://www.spaceants.blogspot.com