[ExI] ants again

[hkhenson]

At 08:52 PM 6/29/2008, spike wrote:

snip

>Our peak oil discussion reminds me of the plight of the ants trapped 
>in the fruit trees.  The ants could theoretically survive if they 
>made a sudden radical change in their collective behavior in 
>response to the change in conditions.  But they can't do it.  They are screwed.

The Greenland Norse failure to survive doesn't seem to be due to a 
failure to go after sea life after all.

http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/15/article1/article1.html

so why they died out is even more of a mystery.

The Easter Island folks were a clear case of the population expanding 
beyond the capacity of the ecosystem to feed them.

Their society dissolved in war.  A taunt of that day come down to us 
dimly as "the  flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth."

Keith