Computer-eating ants attack NASA

A new species of ants devouring computer equipment terrorizes Texas. Their origin is unknown, but it is assumed that they came from Colombia or the Caribbean, where they resemble "rabid ants," according to the Associated Press .

The new species is called the "Rasberry rabid ants" in honor of the entomologist Tom Rasberry, one of the main fighters with them. The victims of these ants are computers, pumping stations, air conditioners and alarm systems. Damaging the insulation, ants cause short circuits in the equipment. In one case, even a chemical plant was damaged - ants cut down three computers that controlled the flow of chemicals through the pipes.

Hungry electronics eaters have already reached Houston Airport and NASA Space Center, where they called Tom Rasberry about a month ago. Too late, according to the ant terminator, three colonies of IT ants already reside in NASA. And the season of active feeding has just begun and will peak in the summer.

“They can destroy the NASA center if they use computers like they do now.” I have been fighting insects for 32 years, but have never seen anything like it. You can gather entomologists from all over the United States and see how shocked they will be, ”Rasberry said in an interview with ComputerWorld.

At the moment, scientists can not answer the question of what attracts ants in electronics. A study at the University of Texas showed that they prefer direct current to alternating current - but the reasons are unknown.

Classical fighting methods, such as poisoned baits, do not help against these new ants. Moreover, these ants use the corpses of their poisoned brethren for their own benefit - they build bridges from them to cross the territory poisoned by pesticides.

“Even the Russians are concerned,” said a spokesman for the mayor of Houston in an interview with the Houston Journal. - We got a call from Moscow asking if everything is in order with the security of the NASA center. I assured the Russians that the situation is under control. ”

And the Russians, by the way, have been warning about this for a long time! “True, in my forecasts I relied on termites,” commented the chief editor of Webplanet Alexei Andreev, author of the futurological novel Web. In the novel 10 years ago, there is a story about how the data center of one of the providers was attacked by an unknown nature, as a result of which communication equipment and most memory devices were damaged. Here's what the following discussion of this attack sounds like:
“- And what was that? I asked.

- How do I know? - Marian cooed in a sly voice. - Probably termites.

- Termites? In Moscow?! It's cold there!

“Oh, I didn’t know that I was talking to the chief termite professor.” Now he will also say that for dinner termites do not eat vinyl, fiber and ferroplastics. Especially radio-controlled termites.

“No ... (what do I know about termites, really? What do they eat?) ... But wait, where did they go then?”

- Here's the brake! He himself said: it’s cold in Moscow. Probably frozen. Or get away.

Therefore, electromagnetic pulses were still there. But they did not erase the memory, but controlled the termites! I got fun. I imagined hordes of insects seeping into the OREOLA office - through the smallest gaps, bypassing all security systems. Small bugs pounce on office equipment and scuttle away from a cooling, de-energized building. ”

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PS: Commentators discuss whether our new nanotechnologies forced ants to eat American computers? This is for the Colorado beetles :-)