Ants with Maddie Sofia | SciShow Tangents Podcast

If you are on the planet Earth right now, there's probably a pretty good chance you're near an ant right now. So spare a thought for those hard working little fellows and unplug your headphones so they can hear this episode about ants featuring special guest Maddie Sofia and learn more about themselves!
Want more Maddie Sofia in your life? Check them out on Twitter @maddie_sofia, watch the episode of PBS's Deep Look that inspired their poem ( • Fire Ants Turn Into a ... ), or go to www.madelineso... to find countless more projects!
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A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley, Tom Mosner, and Mike A for helping to make the show possible!
Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!
While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen
#scishow #podcast #comedy #science #education #scishowtangents
[Trivia Question]
First commercial formicarium
archive.dartmo...
www.dartmouth....
www.usinflatio...
[Fact Off]
Ants stealing food from a pitcher plant
Ants swimming in pitcher plants: kinematics of aquatic and terrestrial locomotion in Camponotus schmitzi
www.cambridge....
besjournals.on...
Marauder ants and major worker piggyback rides
content.ucpres...
www.ncbi.nlm.n...
sib.illinois.e...
link.springer....
www.annualrevi...
[Ask the Science Couch]
Ant size/strength
engineering.os...
www.wired.com/...
askdruniverse....
www.newscienti...
www.nature.com...
[Butt One More Thing]
Parasitic beetle disguised as ant butt
www.theatlanti...
bmczool.biomed...

[@mrjoe332]

I agree with Sofia's very scientific hypothesis: "those ants are just built different"

[@HaarmannE]

Loved the salamander tangent! I had a pet salamander named sal I found on the farm when I was a kid. Showed him at the state fair and won a purple ribbon :D Miss that slimy boy

[@randyollmann4202]

them ants be bussin

[@jamesc.1026]

Ants seem to be big on useful babies: weaver ant larvae double as glue guns

[@mrjoe332]

I think there's also one that uses their larvae as food storage.

[@Trench777]

Listening to Tangents is a beloved activity of mine. The 3 of you (and usually your guests) seem like kindred spirits and it fills me with joy to see nerds congregate, pontificate and generally be awesome & relatable. I just want you to know that you make a fellow nerd feel very content. Thank you!

[@Larixlaricina]

Agreed! 😊

[@ivytarablair]

+++1😁

[@janelwilliams9144]

Exactly 💯

[@ashleelarsen2233]

28:30 broccoli 🥦 is my fave

[@Shatterpath]

Bring Maddie back! She's informative, hilarious and fits right in. I love this show so much.

[@chippercorgi2247]

Just wanted to say Maddie Sofia was an absolutely wonderful guest, and this was a really fun episode! P.S. I found the Deep Look episode about fire ants she mentioned in the episode... I'm also sad her line about babies finally being useful got cut 😀

[@Kathend15]

My sister got hit by a raft of those ants as a kid, down in Louisiana. We were playing in the flood water, and when she got hit they swarmed her head to toe and stung her all over. She developed allergies to all insect stings after.

[@Larixlaricina]

😢 yikes

[@SciShowTangents]

oh no!

[@GirlPhoenix85]

That's horrible!

[@miadzag]

Bro, tell her to come to Michigan. We dont have fire ants. 😟

[@spacemari7498]

im being very brave about this episode!! i love bugs so much but i have a deep phobia of ants and this has always made me so sad, i wish i could love them too :,(

[@mrjoe332]

You're doing great 👍

[@queens.dee.223]

Good job getting through the episode! 🎉 Phobias are hard. You did good!

[@MangindDerous]

Same! Ive been watching it in 10 ish minute segments with a couple of hours break in between... still got one more segment to go 😥🤪

[@declanp1]

I know this doesn't help but they're harmless. You should try immersion treatment!

[@jordyn2442]

this is how I feel about spiders, I wish I could love them some of them are so cute but they are so scary :( Luckily(?) my other insect phobia is wasps. but those are actually evil so my conscience is clear

[@Kazekiddo101]

When you were talking about the Ant's falling into the hole I recalled Sam talking about breaking the prime directive the first time this was brought up on Tangents and then he said it again in this video 😀 Glad to see Sam still thinks the same way

[@lamppostfog]

I'm ready for a Maddie Sofia full time tangents spot. She was a great guest!

[@injunsun]

Cool facts about one ant species, Tapinoma sessile, the "bleu cheese ant," aside from smelling like bleu cheese when accidentally(?) squished, has colonies that can extend for two to three city blocks. Also, when they come in, they clean up whatever sugar or hair they find, and after two to three days, leave, no insecticide needed. One thing among many that just tickled me here was the idea of studying pitcher plants vis-a-vis toilet improvement, versus water slides: That gives new meaning to the oft used phrase, "I'll be right back. I just have to drop the kids off at the pool." Mr. Hankey comes to mind. There is a South Park episode lurking within this research.

[@SciShowTangents]

the ants eat hair??

[@injunsun]

@@SciShowTangents I can't think of what else they would want from cracks beside the bathroom sink... 🤔 They come, do their custodial service, and go. My house spiders never get a chance at them.

[@jebus456]

yay special guest!

[@Jack-je1zt]

Another use of super slippy materials would be to be able to make non-stick cookware without having to use chemistry that doesn't breakdown in the environment for the same reason it doesn't like to stick to things.

[@JessicaRohan]

This was my favorite episode to date!! 🥰 great job everyone

[@jebus456]

happy anniversary!

[@myrmatta1]

I FREAKING LOVE ANTS

[@Mithrandir39]

I had a fantastic holiday down in Costa Rica. We went all over the country but one of the things that fascinated me was when we went for a walk through Cahuita National Park where we saw all kinds of animals but the one that fascinated me the most was leaf cutter ants. I sat and watched them for over half an hour taking pictures and video. It was great! If you ever want a holiday where the purpose is to try and see the animals that are there, which is what most of my holidays are, then I highly recommend Costa Rica. The people were extremely friendly and the wildlife is top notch!

[@sophibeans]

Best poem!

[@adriannegentleman83]

I'm so pleased that Hank can lift 10x the weight of an ant lol

[@roseannelajara8659]

I wonder if we're proportionately stronger than like elephants or blue whales because of the scaling up of gooshy stuff. Also, has Sam ever had cute, pink hair? I think it would suit him.

[@isaidromerogavino8902]

I'd guess that we are stronger than elephants, proportionally. But compared to whales, not so sure. The living underwater vs on land troubles me

[@disky01]

Congrats on season 5! These shows are always a gift.

[@jebus456]

oh i already knew the answer to the truth or fail game! First time for me!

[@rebekahprice800]

I want a whole episode on the anatomy scaling up an ant to human mass. That is fascinating!

[@victoriashaw1265]

We have a hellbender at our zoo. It's pretty cool.

[@stefanhauser2804]

Didn't know tangents existed. Thanks Hank for posting this in Twitter.

[@juuuniper1]

9:00 came just after i had paused the episode to look up if there are solitary ants

[@joshaconnor]

The multiple ant sizes fact feels like looking at a Dr Seuss book and seeing all the different sizes of Who

[@eliricheysax]

Listened to this episode on the podcasts app, but had to come to the video for the ant bus pictures!! Wow!!

[@jess53nz]

Qotd "some of them are busses" 😂

[@kellyezebra]

There’s a totally different way of relating to ants that comes from your formative experiences with ants being with fire ants. It was harvester ants that turned me around.

[@Jack-je1zt]

Wait, if I didn't learn about the bunker ants from a previous episode of Tangents how did already know about it? 😵‍💫

[@SciShowTangents]

it was on either a previous episode or an old Holy Fucking Science.....

[@dile5879]

I think it was a similar fact but it was in a cave, it seems ants fall into holes and eat each other rather frequently XD

[@anartoffact]

@@SciShowTangents I swear to zombie jeebus this was Ceri's fact-off for the Holes episode!

[@mallorystrom7511]

it was indeed in the holes episode! high-quality fact; delighted to have heard it twice 😁

[@spawnofheck]

Mechanical Engineer here. I can confirm, I would do that to an ant. This includes spiders and other bugs (pneumatic dead spider plunger graspers, anyone?).

[@sunnydays9144]

I remember the antbunker

[@soth1sol]

"care... bear... (ant)... STARE!!!"

[@vincekovach2854]

lol @Sam Schultz, the last time they mentioned the separated ants, you also said then that they violated the prime directive. it made me lol.

[@davidfoss4808]

This was very ANTeresting and ANTertaining!

[@KelMindelan]

The truth or fail was in a previous episode, I think (as a fact-off fact)?

[@gapinskia88]

I’m pretty sure it was a Ceri fact off in the episode about holes

[@sunnydays9144]

Yes, I remember, it was particularly sad that they were stuck there

[@jonofsometrades]

Correct. I've been going through the back catalog on my commute. To be fair, I listened to it roughly three days ago, but it's been almost three years for them.

[@KelMindelan]

Okay, thanks! I thought I imagined it :D But it's still a good fact :)

[@nicoleparsons2884]

Yes! I remembered it immediately too

[@xollst]

Great ep, great guest!!! Hilariously informative!!!!!!!! Just so you know, we're all sad that you've moved to bi-weekly instead of weekly :( (everyone in the kitchen LOVES this show, except the GM who not only rarely is in the kitchen but is also not very smart so.... *shrug* guess the good people like the good stuff

[@erebedragons]

Ceri I am fairly certain that the context in which you heard that ant fact was when you presented it for a Fact Off!! 15:51

[@terranovarubacha5473]

I don't know if all ants do this or just certain ones but there are at least some that use the heat from composting their dung to create updrafts to ventilate their hills

[@ivankovac7844]

Talking about antz (the movie) in the beginning raises the opportunity to do an episode about termites as well, and i would love to hear some termite facts except "they eat your house" for a change 😅

[@vailstales3639]

Didnt know y’all did lives. Sad to catch the tail end but I’ll listen when it’s edited and posted :)

[@DatedReference]

It’s not live; they employ a social media specialist to “premier” these videos and moderate the chat so we get the option to play along before it’s posted as a regular video

[@vailstales3639]

@@DatedReference 🫠 I’m an idiot thanks for the explanation lol

[@leelarson1952]

@@vailstales3639 FWIW, Sam frequently participates in the chats. I noticed the "premier" announcement earlier but wasn't able to participate. Also catching up after the fact.

[@scullian]

funnily enough the finnish word for ant comes from the word for building (specifically for building something shut or working with bricks) so not cutting, but the opposite

[@ivytarablair]

LOVE the poem!! (and same, Hank - low insect population is a huge reason I live in Msla :D)

[@ivytarablair]

ooo! just noticed the static 'Tangents' screen in Sam's background - love that!

[@tao5231]

Maddie was a lovely guest

[@celebdae1341]

how do you find out, that the taste receptors of a certain woodpecker has changed from sweet to savoury and back?

[@SciShowTangents]

that is a great question... I'll ask!

[@disky01]

Thak you guys!!!

[@DCII]

Larger ants can grip and move larger things and can defend better against certain types of threats. Smaller ants can get into smaller places, and can defend better against certain other types of threats, and need less overall energy per active unit/soldier/mouth thereby allowing better use of the overall supply of energy by allowing the proper and most exacting use of energy. All reasons I can imagine contributing to the evolution of the species we see today (not that the process is over obviously 😉)

[@erikdietrich2678]

Axolotls don't "grow up" because of a mutation they don't have the pathway to mature fully into adults. However! If they have a mutation of that mutation that allows that pathway to progress, they *do* become more typical-looking salamanders. It's wild.

[@picklesdill5462]

10/10 science vibes

[@juliaspoonie3627]

It took me a while to build up courage to watch this episode because I have a history with ants… European red fire ants (Myrmica rubra). When I was about 3 years old I played with my aunts garden gnomes while they drank coffee outside. Unfortunately they had built a nest in one of the gnomes. I was covered from head to toe with red ants within seconds, they even were in my underpants. They put me under the shower to get them off as fast as possible. I don’t remember it but developed an entomo- and arachnophobia. It got better over time (being a mom requires that in a way) but the second they touch my skin it‘s over. I‘m quite proud that I love gardening so much that insects hardly ever bother me phobia wise, aphids may be the bane of my existence but hey, I can touch an infested plant with gloves on. Bring me all the snakes, slimey critters, rodents and whatnot, I don’t care. But insects and spiders are the typical „no thanks, not near my physical body please“

[@ISandbagI]

Live?! 😮❤

[@nino6194]

This is epic

[@CutieBanana09]

@20: why wouldn’t the ants fix up the tree? They’re the tree’s immune system, acting as it’s little anty bodies.

[@frogz]

there is something known as antmimics, bugs that look like ants .....but is there a butt mimic? a type of species that specializes in butts? like 1 adapts to look like ant butts, another like cricket butts, another like some other type of beetle butt etc etc

[@thieleaf_the_shelf_dragon]

i know im late to the episode but OH i remember the truth or fail from way WAY back during holyfuckingscience!!! that feels like not so long ago but wow, its definitely longer ago that it feels haha

[@primordial_platypus]

Who remembers the movie “Them!”?

[@michaelpytel3280]

The Butt Beetle Witness Protection Program.

[@Syco108]

Ants just got cuter

[@tomlewis4205]

Fake Butt Beatle!😂

[@Mithrandir39]

#FeedTheBus

[@unicornep1818]

Inky Looking good and very flat, 29 out of 10 (I love Ants)

[@SciShowTangents]

Inky's a pro

[@dead1097]

Sam, why aren't your fairy lights on?

[@dead1097]

Asking for a friend...

[@ecurps1]

I've got bad hearing but it sounds like those schmitzi ants have a lot of chutzpah.

[@butterflyzero0]

Sister big head....

[@mrjoe332]

That's also how I refer to my sister

[@rhov-anion]

I'm just thinking how much @AntsCanada would love this and be able to add cool info into it.