http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/us...2cb&ei=5087%0A

“The Russians are concerned,” Mr. Michel said. “I got a call from Moscow wanting to know if NASA was safe.”

To remove some of the mystery about the link (see topic: Stop the mystery links, please), it's about ants:

On the news reports I was hearing yesterday, they were being called "Raspberry ants" (or Rasberry) after the exterminator-discoverer.

If the OP had been a good reporter and mentioned what this topic was about, I -- probably many others -- could have happily skipped visiting the article, and I would have been thankful.

Edit:

But, to provide a little science angle, different from the woo-wooish scary-ant-invasion aspects of the popular news stories, enjoy this, from Texas A&M University: Exotic Texas Ant, Paratrechina sp. near pubens:

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Sorry, had I seen the "Stop the Mystery links" thread, I wouldn't have posted it how I did...

I've taken note for next time!

I appreciate that. Thanks.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

I mean, could you think how much of a pain it would be to have an ant-infestation on the ISS?

Oh, it's not that much of a problem*


*Oh, and y'all said "Please more mystery links", right?

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Well, they surely have spacesuits at the ISS--they could put them on and evacuate the air in the living spaces--should kill all the ants pretty quickly.

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

I'm sure - but that's quite a waste of air!

From Kent Brockman of the Simpsons

Since I live in the area the article mentions, I'll be out exterminating this weekend.

Such a great episode.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Reminds me of the Mary Kate and Ashley Mysteries episode where they get called to visit KSC because there are holes in the shuttle's fuel tank. Turns out, it was SPOILER woodpeckers.
Ah, that show rocked. I miss the nineties!

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Ripped from yesterday's headlines. Yesteryear's.

NASA: Woodpeckers damage STS-70 External Tank

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Hurrah! The series that introduced me to the mystery genre was also acurate!

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

As Heinlein said, "vacate the compartment, reduce the air pressure to zero, and the vacuum kills them all the time."

Too bad our Earthly buildings aren't built to handle zero pressure.

However, they are built to handle ambient pressure. Thus, kill all the ants, simply use a max-toxicity pesticide around the grounds while flushing it's interior with Nitrogen.

After 100% death, open the windows and water the grounds.

Ants? What ants?

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If I set the budget, we'd have Ares and more. Unfortunately, I don't set the budget, and Ares is just too expensive and too far out for us to accomplish our goals within the budget we were given.

If we halt the ISS, all versions of Ares, and transport Orion and Altair aboard DIRECTv3's Jupiter family of Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles, we just might make it back to the Moon by 2020.

The ones that come in to replace them the next week.

Faster reproduction.

The shuttle launches from Fla. and the ants are in Houston!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

Well, when they made the episode, the woodpecker thing was current.

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Fine, ruin my ill-thought doomsday scenario!

Ants destroying the wrold's electronics.....Sounds like a 'Doctor Who' episode.

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Angel of the Abyss
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"I am Ripper...Tearer...Slasher...Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength...and Lust...and Power! I AM BEOWULF!"