The Pissant*
(or, Welcome to my Qibla)

[33.46] And as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light-giving torch. -The Glorious Quran, "The Clans"

"With their combined weight greater than the combined weight of all humans, ants are the most numerous type of animal.
Strong in relation to their size, ants can carry 10 to 20 times their body weight. They work in teams to move extremely heavy things.
Ant brains are largest amongst insects. Mushroom shaped brain appendages have function similar to the gray-matter of human brains.

It has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh II computer."

If only we could say the same thing about human beings.


How The Ants Got Famous

They stood on their hind legs
congratulating themselves. How
they did, the ants, become famous.
Lifting six times their weight:
grains of sugar, wheat capsules
and so many types of resins
called capitulations. Even
in the love generations, men
were heartier than their women,
chosen very well, as is always
the case, for their breeding:
Connecticut to New Hampshire,
Wilshire to Orange
and Pinal to Greenlee county.
The march of these creatures
was not very long to us
but to them, it was
a very long and hoary deal.
Tree trunks to consider, alimony,
panhandling and no hole to crawl into.
It was a very long way to Mecca.

[27.23] Surely I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given abundance and she has a mighty throne:

"But an attempt to overthrow the alpha female is risky. If the challenging beta ant is not successful she is often killed in the attack, and even if she survives, she loses her beta status and becomes a low-ranking worker."

[27.13] So when Our clear signs came to them, they said: This is clear enchantment.

"To do this, they must have in their "cockpit" a compass for determining direction, a gauge for measuring distance, and some record of the pathway they have taken, as well as an integrator to tell them the direct path home. The latest research into this tiny creature shows that when it moves over little hills, it can calculate the distance back along the flat.

The compass used by this ant (Cataglyphis fortis) is based on sunlight, which is scattered as it meets air molecules in the earth's atmosphere. The result is that the light is polarised in a way that we humans are not able to see. But the ant has cells in its eyes that are sensitive to this polarised light, and the information is processed so that the ant has a sense of the direction in which it is facing."

[27.23] Surely I found a woman ruling over them (the Namlites or "Ants"), and she has been given abundance and she has a mighty throne: [27.24] I found her and her people adoring the sun instead of Allah, and the Shaitan has made their deeds fair-seeming to them and thus turned them from the way, so they do not go aright...

"But it does not only use this system, together with how far it has travelled, to get back home. It also uses landmarks along its horizon to correct any errors it might make in its calculations. Experiments have shown that, as it approaches its home, the ant continually compares what it sees with a memorised snapshot that it took when it set out, and moves so as to reduce any difference between the two. If the terrain is flat with no landmarks, the ant adopts a systematic search strategy, looping around the area where the home base is most likely to be."

[27.38] He said: O chiefs! which of you can bring to me her throne before they come to me in submission?[27.39] One audacious among the jinn said: I will bring it to you before you rise up from your place; and most surely I am strong (and) trusty for it.[27.40] One who had the knowledge of the Book said: I will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye. Then when he saw it settled beside him, he said: This is of the grace of my Lord that He may try me whether I am grateful or ungrateful; and whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own soul, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely my Lord is Self-sufficient, Honored.[27.41] He said: Alter her throne for her, we will see whether she follows the right way or is of those who do not go aright.

"It turns out that the US Navy uses a similar looping strategy to that of our ant for searching for missiles lost by the US Air Force. And robots are now being built that roam the desert using the mechanisms first identified in the ant. Surely, no engineer working at the drawing board could ever have come up with such imaginative solutions."



http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010713/ai_n14415791

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/koran/koran-idx?type=DIV0&byte=586505

Aye..."surely" no engineer could have come up with that!

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1567920

"Our data further suggest that the ant’s polarization compass works independently of the sun compass."

Historically speaking, the orientation of "this" anthill (humanity) was turned southward from its original location (Jerusalem) to the new one (Mecca) by Allah via his communications to the last prophet Mohamed (SA) but this caused the Christians and Jews much distress. Distresses them to this day and don't even talk about athiests. That sort of stuff just burns them up. But who understands all of that!

[2.142] The fools among the people will say: What has turned them from their qiblah which they had? Say: The East and the West belong only to Allah; He guides whom He likes to the right path.
[2.143] And thus We have made you a medium (just) nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Apostle may be a bearer of witness to you; and We did not make that which you would have to be the qiblah but that We might distinguish him who follows the Apostle from him who turns back upon his heels, and this was surely hard except for those whom Allah has guided aright; and Allah was not going to make your faith to be fruitless; most surely Allah is Affectionate, Merciful to the people.
[2.144] Indeed We see the turning of your face to heaven, so We shall surely turn you to a qiblah which you shall like; turn then your face towards the Sacred Mosque, and wherever you are, turn your face towards it, and those who have been given the Book most surely know that it is the truth from their Lord; and Allah is not at all heedless of what they do.
[2.145] And even if you bring to those who have been given the Book every sign they would not follow your qiblah, nor can you be a follower of their qiblah, neither are they the followers of each other's qiblah, and if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, then you shall most surely be among the unjust. - The Glorious Quran, "The Cow" which is a mandatory Sura and one that contains many of the fundamental readings for the jurisprudent.

*"He is an angry as a pissemyre,Though þat he haue al that he kan desire."[Chaucer]

More about ants, pissants and firebeasts:

http://www.hawaiiantgroup.org/solenopsis/solinv.htm

FIRE ANTS COULD COST CALIFORNIA MILLIONS

DAVIS, California, March 12, 2002 (ENS) - If the imported red fire ant becomes established in California, the insect could cost Californians from $387 to $989 million a year, says a researcher from the University of California at Davis.

"There's no way of predicting how far and how fast the ants will spread in California," said Karen Jetter, a postdoctoral researcher at the UC Davis-based Agricultural Issues Center. Jetter and colleagues released their findings on the potential economic impact of the fire ant in the January issue of "California Agriculture" magazine, published by the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The fire ant, already established in several Southern states, was discovered in California's San Joaquin Valley almond orchards in 1997 and has since shown up in many parts of Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties. Last October, it also was found and destroyed on the Cal Expo grounds in Sacramento County.

The authors estimate that, in the absence of eradication efforts, it would take 10 years for the ant to become established and could inflict costs totaling from $3.9 to $9.9 billion during that period, mostly to households.

A $65.4 million, five year eradication program is being coordinated by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the nursery industry to prevent, lessen or delay the projected losses from the ant's arrival in California.

Based on the biology of the fire ants, the researchers think it is unlikely that they will be eradicated during the first five year funding period. The project will be reviewed, however, and considered for extension based on progress made during the first five years.

In agriculture, the ant's large mounded nests can damage mowing and harvesting equipment, irrigation lines, and electrical equipment. The ants girdle and kill young citrus trees and attack cattle and other livestock. They also damage vegetable and melon crops by eating developing fruit, seeds, roots and tubers and subject nursery and hay crops to quarantine regulations.

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2007-05/2007-05-14-voa2.cfm

"Now, government researchers want to work with a private company to produce large amounts of the virus. It could then be used as a biological control."

Oh...I'll bet they do. I'd say it isn't a very good idea. Afterall, we did get the polio vaccine out in time but ended up spreading AIDS all over the darn place. Seems we just can't seem to figure this stuff out and dig our ant hill deeper and deeper.