Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
You could have thought of that.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                                       

Ant Lamp Shade

  (+4)
(+4)
  [vote for,
against]

A lampshade that is made with a white inner translucent layer and an outer clear plastic layer. In between the layers is filled with sand. Just add ants and let them build their hive to produce a unique piece of living art.
duroncrush, Feb 27 2004

[link]






       Low watt bulb recommended. Since it's always dark inside a wild ant colony, how is the on - off cycle going to influence these ants ?
normzone, Feb 27 2004
  

       do ants eat sand? I never knew that.
po, Feb 27 2004
  

       The shadows this would produce on the wall would be cool. Or horrifying, depending on your mental state.
kevindimie, Feb 27 2004
  

       po, do ever leave the bakery?
ricedo, Feb 27 2004
  

       I was away for a week, no-one missed me!
po, Feb 27 2004
  

       Yet another INCREDIBLY good reason not to play ball in the house.
Letsbuildafort, Feb 27 2004
  

       The heat from such a lamp would kill all the ants. In effect, you'd end up with a rather morbid display of humanity's influence over mother nature. Why not go one step further and train a troop of chimpanzees to make shadow puppets at all your parties?
Arduen, Feb 27 2004
  

       I dunno - they hold up for at least a little while under the focus of my magnifying glass. I'm sure that if they can survive in some of the hottest places on earth, I'm sure they'll be fine in a lamp shade. But then again, I'm no arthropologist.   

       I'm now anxiously awaiting a Bumble Bee housewares idea.
Letsbuildafort, Feb 27 2004
  

       Use a low-heat light, like compact flourescent.
Worldgineer, Feb 27 2004
  

       Not recommended for homes with Aardvarks as pets.
Letsbuildafort, Feb 27 2004
  

       [reen] Haven't you ever seen an ant farm? I've recently ant-sat for a friend, and I think the little critters can look after themselves just fine. Just add a few drops of water and some food every now and then.
Worldgineer, Feb 27 2004
  

       What? You mean that you left them unattended and buggered off to the (pub, bar, drinking hole) ??
How irresponsible. I would have taken time to play with them.
gnomethang, Feb 27 2004
  

       I've been trying to teach mine to do tricks.....
normzone, Feb 27 2004
  

       You don't really play with them - our one instruction was not to shake the cage. They are amazingly interesting creatures, and I found myself watching often. On the drive over one of the tunnels collapsed, burying a few. The others eventually dug them out and re-buried them in the ant graveyard aboveground.
Worldgineer, Feb 27 2004
  

       Ants + //(pub, bar, drinking hole)// = One terrible, god-awful lesson.
Letsbuildafort, Feb 27 2004
  

       Awww! Bless!. I used to stare for ages at ants as a small child. Having seen wopping big ants in Israel accompanied by a different species of MUCH smaller ants I got jealousy pangs vicariously. What must the small ants think when they are bestrode by a Titan?
gnomethang, Feb 27 2004
  

       <repeating> *Just don't make compound eye contact*
Letsbuildafort, Feb 27 2004
  

       The problem with ant farms is that eventually the ants spend more and more of their time and energy removing other dead ants from the colony. It's really sad when that last ant collapses while trying to bury his last surviving relative.
Arduen, Feb 28 2004
  

       I think I like ants more than people <weeps>
po, Feb 28 2004
  

       back on subject...ants in a lampshade?? Really sick, but a good joke to pulll when redecorating a small childs room.I can see it all now: "Mommmmeeeeeee! There's bugs in my light!! EEEEWWW!" hahaha
echo, Feb 28 2004
  

       Get'm off of me.
GET'M OFF OF ME!
  

       I like this one... when I was small, my best friend who lived next door brought in a cocoon and put it under his lamp by his bed... 2 days later, the house was full of tiny praying mantises. (Like a thousand of them)   

       Oh, the memories... I'm going to make one of these just because.   

       By the way, I don't think the heat would be much of a problem. If it were, then there's a great use for all of those leftover notebook computer cooling fans.
zigness, Feb 28 2004
  

       [Arduen] You did remember to feed them, right?
Worldgineer, Feb 29 2004
  

       To allow the ants to have some semblance of darkness, the glass could be tinted to absorb those portions of the visible spectrum which ants can see, just as is done in a bug light.
goldbb, Mar 08 2010
  

       Splice a gene for GFP into the ants' DNA, and put an ultraviolet light in the holder.   

       (Would this work on a creature with an exoskeleton?)
Wrongfellow, Mar 08 2010
  

       Scorpions florescence under UV, so I'm sure ants could be made to as well.
goldbb, Mar 08 2010
  

       so.... scorpion lamp shade?
pocmloc, Mar 08 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle