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Music by:

Springtide - Fall Asleep Under the Millions of stars (Instrumental)

The Freak Fandango Orchestra - Requim For a Fish

Gillicuddy - Thinking of You

Freemusicarchive.com

For more infomation >> How to Make a Farmhouse Table? - Duration: 8:03.

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Did The Soviets Build A Better Space Shuttle? The Buran Story - Duration: 10:30.

The space shuttle wasn't like anything before it, it was the first reusable

spacecraft and it promised to make travel into space affordable, safe, almost

routine. And so by the 1970's America abandoned expendable rockets, which could

only be used once, and went all in on space shuttles, Building the Columbia, the

Challenger, the discovery, the Atlantis the Braun and the Endeavour. Wait a

minute, this is not one of the space shuttles.

In 1988, the world learned that the Soviet Union also had a space shuttle.

They had been secretly developing it for well over a decade, and it had cost them

billions. But maybe you've never heard of it, and that wouldn't be too surprising,

because the Soviet Space Shuttle only ever launched once. But it's not because

it was flawed. Actually its first launch was a huge success and in a lot of ways

it was actually more capable and robust than the American space shuttle. But

after its first launch, the Soviet shuttle seems to have just disappeared.

And to understand why, you need to go back to the late 1960's. That's when the

Soviets would have learned that the Americans were planning to replace their

conventional rockets with a new reusable spacecraft. But at first the Soviets

wouldn't have been concerned. After all, they had done their own research into

reusable spacecraft and space planes. And the Soviets were pretty busy with other

space projects. They were still in the race to put a man on the moon, they had

ambitious plans for a space station, even a potential moon base. But by 1975 the

mood had changed, the Soviets had grown paranoid that the American space shuttle

might also be used as a space weapon. Soviet research institutes studied the

shuttle program and what they found was that the publicly stated goals of the

program, well, just didn't line up with what the

Americans were actually building. For one, the shuttle promised to make getting

into space cheaper. But the Soviets could clearly see that the shuttle's launch

costs were actually going to be higher than the Rockets it was supposed to

replace. And the shuttle program promised an incredible 60 launches a year, giving

the Americans the ability to get a lot of material into orbit - ten times more

than they had been previously able to. And yet there was nothing in NASA's

plans that called for so many launches. The space shuttle'ss commercial and

scientific goals were starting to look like a smokescreen for what was likely a

military program. The Soviets suspected that the shuttle could be used to launch

something like, say, a laser weapon into orbit, test it, then bring it back down to

earth for further development. With a shuttle type craft, the Americans

could militarize space a lot quicker than the Soviets. The shuttle could even

be used to capture a Soviet spy satellite and bring it back down to

earth for study. And to compound Soviet fears, they discovered that the Americans

were quietly building a second launch site for the shuttle at Vandenberg Air

Force Base in California. And here's the thing with Vandenberg, launch the shuttle

from there and by its first orbit it's over all the major population centers of

the Soviet Union. So the shuttle could in theory deliver a nuclear first-strike

faster than any Soviet nuclear delivery system. The Soviet military pushed hard

for the Soviet Union to start developing its own space

shuttle, but few involved in the Soviet space program actually wanted a shuttle

type craft. But four years after the Americans began working on the space

shuttle, the Kremlin quietly gave the go-ahead to

start developing a Soviet counterpart The Soviet Union's space shuttle would

be called Buran and its research and development would be kept a closely

guarded secret for years. When the Americans first launched the Space

Shuttle on April 12 1981, which awkwardly enough was the 20th anniversary of the

Soviets launching the first man into space, the Soviet media was scathing. They

blasted the Americans for putting in military craft into space and they

reminded viewers that the Soviet Union's space program was for the betterment of

science and humanity. Very few Soviet citizens would have

known that their own government was secretly developing a similar shuttle.

There's no way around it the Buran looked a lot like the American Space

Shuttle, and it's got nothing to do with aerodynamic or thermodynamic laws. The

goal had been to build something that could match the military potential of

the Space Shuttle and with a lot of information about the American Space

Shuttle freely available and unclassified, it's not hard to imagine

what happened next. But here's the thing, the Soviets already knew a thing or two

about getting into space, so they didn't just copy the shuttle, they might have

designed a better Space Shuttle First there's a big difference in how

the Space Shuttle and the Buran actually get into space. The Space Shuttle's

orbiter uses integrated reusable main engines which are fueled by an external

tank. But because the main engines were not powerful enough to put the Shuttle

into orbit, it also needed the help of two expendable solid rocket boosters. But

the Buran didn't have integrated engines, all of its lifting power was provided by

a separate super-heavy rocket called Energia.

It consisted of a core stage and four boosters. Unlike the Space Shuttle, which

was a single system, the Buran orbiter and it's lifting Rockets were actually

two separate systems. While the Shuttle with its integrated engines was more

reusable, in practice it required intensive maintenance between launches,

which offset a lot of its advantage, but once in space

the Shuttle's integrated engines no longer serve the purpose. So for most of

the Shuttle's mission, it was forced to haul around thousands of pounds of

dead weight. This meant that the Buran could carry slightly more payload than

the Space Shuttle, but more importantly the Soviet system had a massive

advantage: flexibility. The Energia rocket could launch by itself without

the Buran attached, and that meant it could carry other things into space.

Without the Buran, the Energia rocket could launch an astounding 100 tons.

That's three Space Shuttles worth of lifting power. The Space Shuttle's first

stage uses solid rocket boosters. The Energia's are liquid fueled. The thing with

solid rocket boosters is, once they're started, there's simply no way to shut

them off. The Energia's liquid-fueled rockets could be throttled up down or

even shut off completely in an emergency. And in an emergency, the Buran had

ejection seats for the entire crew, which could function while on the launch pad or

all the way up to 20 miles. Only the first two shuttles had ejection

seats and only for two crew members. Later shuttles had no ejection seats at

all. From the outset the Buran was also capable of fully automated flight,

meaning it could be launched, put into orbit, and returned back to earth without

any crew on board. Automated flight couldhave been used for rescue missions

and an empty Buran could be sent up to rescue the crew of a space station or

another stranded orbiter. The Buran's first launch was on November of 1988.

The western media was impressed. Especially by it's fully automatic landing

system. On that autumn day in 1988 the future of Soviet space flight - at least from

an outsider's perspective - looked promising. The media speculated that the Buran

would be used to build space stations, or maybe to assemble a spacecraft for a

manned mission to Mars. Of course none of that ever happened the Buran was only

launched once. In the late 1980's the Soviet Union began to collapse, and with

it funding for the Buran was limited, and eventually cut off entirely. Tough

questions started rolling in about the program. Soviet engineers had done a fine

job, but the entire program was starting to look absurdly expensive. Like the

American Space Shuttle, the Buran was costly and inefficient, but unlike the

Americans the Russians still had other ways to get into space. A soyuz rocket

could launch payload into orbit six times cheaper than a Braun. But if the

Soviet Union hadn't collapsed, well, we might imagine Borans being used to

assemble orbital space stations, or spacecraft for missions to other planets.

Or maybe not. The Soviets had been so paranoid about the military potential of

the American Shuttle they wanted their own matching system. But that goal

quickly became pretty much the only goal. In the final days of the Soviet Union,

when it was clear that the American shuttle had no meaningful military

potential, the Soviet military no longer wanted anything to do with the Buran, and

the Soviet space community was left with a spacecraft that was expensive, complex,

and largely without a real purpose

For more infomation >> Did The Soviets Build A Better Space Shuttle? The Buran Story - Duration: 10:30.

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How to Build an Ant Nest | AAC Modular Formicarium - Duration: 25:29.

Hi guys, my name's Jordan, and in this video, I'm continuing on with my how to build an

ant nest series, or as it's technically known, a formicarium.

In the previous episode, we covered the tubs and tubes method.

A very fail-safe way of raising ants, especially within the early stages of ant colonies development.

However, as we learned, it wasn't that great appearance wise.

With their cylindrical shape, test tubes often resulted in an unclear, distorted view of

the ants within.

So, in this episode, I'll be showing you guys how to build something a little more

sophisticated and ideal for observation.

Utilizing a medium, known, as AAC.

So, what exactly is AAC?

Well, it's essentially a very strong, and lightweight building material, made of autoclaved

aerated concrete, AAC for short.

It's comprised entirely of non-toxic, raw materials such as sand, cement, lime and gypsum.

Originally developed in Scandinavia over 70 years ago, it's now widely used within people's

homes all over the world.

And, in our case, it's going to make for a perfect little home, for our, ants.

AAC can be found at most hardware stores.

Depending on where you're from, it may be sold under different names, such as hebel,

ytong, and aircrete.

I got this this large slab from my local hardware store for under $10.

A very reasonable price considering how many nests this could potentially make.

Now, onto the build!

For this guide, I wanted to keep things as cheap and simplistic as possible.

So, no heavy machinery involved.

Just common household items.

First, what you'll need is your screen.

What you'll be observing the ants through.

I'm going to be using a glass slide from a spare picture frame.

And an old c-d case, which I've carefully cut to my desired size using a hacksaw, like

so.

The plastic can be quite prone to cracking and scratching, so work your way through nice

and slow.

I like to give the edges a quick sand with a filer, just so it's nice and smooth.

A bit of sand paper would work fine too.

The size of your screen should depend on the size of the colony you plan on housing.

A common mistake I find beginners make, is that, they provide their ants with far too

much nesting space.

Ants prefer inhabiting small spaces, in which they feel safe and secure.

And too much space, often results in the ants piling up their garbage within empty nesting

chambers, instead of their foraging area.

Left within the humid confines of the nest, this garbage could then potentially promote

harmful mold and bacterial outbreaks.

So only allow for a little bit of growing room, if any.

These nests aren't hard to make.

So, you can always make a second one, once the colony looks to be outgrowing their first.

For this tutorial, I'm going to making a couple of nests.

One for a young colony of Banded Sugar Ants, Camponotus consobrinus, which have around

50 workers, and lots more on the way.

And, another for a single giant bull ant queen, Myrmecia simillima.

So, once you've found an appropriate sized screen, with a pencil, carefully trace its

dimensions onto the brick.

I'm giving mine around a 10mm margin.

Which will be clear as to why, later on.

Then, using a saw, carefully work your way through.

This can get a little bit messy, so you might want to go outside first this part.

And you might want to work on a nice solid table too.

You can see mine is moving all over the place here, which made the process a little more

difficult than it needed to be.

Once you've cut out your shapes, place your screen in the center, mark out the corners,

and then, we're going to be creating another 10mm margin, this time on the interior of

your screen.

This marked area is the safe zone, where we can form tunnels and chambers, without fear

of the edges chipping off, or overextending upon the borders of our screen.

Now, comes the creative part, working out how you want your nest to look.

First, work out the fundamentals.

Here I'm marking out where the nest entrance holes are going to be situated.

This is where you'll be connecting up some vinyl tubing.

Acting as tunnels to lead the ants to their foraging areas and additional nesting space.

Figure out which sized tubing you're going for.

Then, trace it out.

For this small nest, I'm going with a single hole, and for this larger one, one on either

side.

Just make sure the holes are positioned at least 10mm from the surface, so as to improve

its strength.

Once you've got the basics of the nest down,

start working on the finer details

You can make it as simple...or as elaborate as you like.

For this nest here, I'm going for some slender tunnels and a few islands too.

You're really only limited by your imagination...

So get creative!

Just remember to keep the size of your ants in mind.

These narrow tunnels here for example might not be best suited for larger species.

Like Bull Ants.

Then, we'll need to work out a hydration system.

There's many ways to go about this.

For this nest, I'm going to be drilling out a tiny hole.

Which will reach through to this chamber here.

So, using an instrument like a syringe, I'll be able to simply inject water directly into

the nest.

Again, at least 10mm from the surface is ideal.

Another way to go out it, is to apply the same method, but instead of the hole connecting

directly to the nesting area, it goes into a separate section.

Inaccessible for the ants.

Ideal if you're planning on housing a tiny ant species, which could potentially crawl

into the watering holes used in the first method.

For both nests, I'm putting one port on either side, that way I can hydrate each side

alternatively.

Doing this will limit the chance of mold and fungi outbreaks, as the humidity conditions

won't remain stable enough for them to thrive.

Once you're happy with the design, it's onto the fun part, carving out all the chambers.

The material is surprisingly soft and easy to work with.

All I'm using are some flat-headed screw drivers, combined with a hammer.

I like to chisel around the outermost parts and slowly work my way in.

AAC can be quite brittle, so take your time, and don't apply to much pressure.

Especially when you're creating thin tunnels and islands like this one.

You might want to also play around with elevation changes, making some parts deeper or shallower,

and creating slopes and steps in between.

As this nest is going to be housing a giant bull ant, I'm giving it a little extra depth,

around about 20mm should be plenty for her.

Here, I'm carving out the hydration chambers.

At least 10mm in depth for these.

Alright, carved out.

You can see the layout on this nest is a little different to what I originally envisioned.

In part due to the brittle, unpredictable nature of the material.

And also, just me changing my mind as I went.

Not everything goes to plan.

So once the carving done, it's time to create the entrance holes.

I like to first start with a small screwdriver, and then gradually work my way up.

Ideally you want the hole to be as circular as possible.

To ensure a tight, escape proof fit, you'll want the hole just a little bit smaller than

what you've traced out.

To test it out, submerge the tubing in some hot water for a little while, and then screw

it in like so.

Alright, all fitting nicely.

Next, it's the hydration holes.

For these I'm using a miniature screw driver.

I want the hole only just big enough for a syringe to fit in.

Perfect.

Now all the cutting and drilling is done, I like to smooth the nest interior down with

a filer, and a bit of sand paper.

Really rounding out all the tunnels and chambers.

Of course, this stage is just optional.

If you like that more rough and jagged look, then just leave it as is.

You will want to get rid of those pencil marks, though.

So give the face a very light sanding.

Just make sure you sand flat and evenly, so your screen ends up sitting flush on top.

Finally, I like to file the edges of the nest.

So it's nice and rounded.

A subtle change, but I think it looks much nicer.

And then, clean up any imperfections.

Like the blue paint here which rubbed off from my saw blade.

Once you're happy with how it looks, make sure to give it a thorough clean.

A brush combined with a dust blower works well.

Better yet, I like to use a vacuum cleaner.

Much easier.

Alright, looking good.

Now, this next part is totally optional, but, I like to give my nests a bit of colour.

The paint I'm going for is made entirely of natural, earthy ingredients, such as chalk

and clay.

So, it's completely non-toxic, perfectly safe for the ants.

I'm giving this nest a coat of green.

And this one orange.

Because AAC is an incredibly porous material, it helps if you water down the paint a little.

That way it'll seep into all the cracks and crevices nicely.

You'll notice I'm leaving the interior of the nest unpainted.

I kind of like the look of ants on a white backdrop.

Bright colours, like white, do a good job at reflecting light.

Thus, illuminating the ants within, and allowing you to see an incredible amount of detail.

I like to give it a couple of coats, for a nice solid finish.

Personally, I think a coat of paint is a must.

As you can see, it instantly transforms the nest, almost into a piece of art.

Plus, it goes further than just aesthetics too.

After numerous testing on our range, now on our shop, we discovered, a coat of paint or

two greatly improves the water retentive qualities of this material.

In this experiment, both of these nests here were injected with 4ml of water, and after

4 days sitting at room temperature, the unpainted nest on the right, dropped in humidity much

quicker than the painted model did.

The ants will appreciate that consistency in humidity.

And it makes it easier on the keeper too.

You won't need to hydrate the nest nearly as often.

So, it's definitely worth giving it a coat or two.

Speaking of hydration, once the paint has dried, if you like, you can add some sponges

into your watering chambers.

Which will, again, improve the system a little.

Sponges help the water disperse more slowly and evenly upon injection, and also help retain

humidity a little bit longer than otherwise.

Just be careful that the sponges you use don't have any added, harmful chemicals.

I'm using some regular kitchen sponges, which come in some nice vibrant colours.

Now, comes the final stage, securing your screen on to the front.

First, you'll want to give the inner side of your screen a good clean.

Ideally with a micro fiber cloth.

It helps if you look through it over a white background, so all the dust stands out.

Once its looking nice and clean, secure it onto your nest using some hot glue or some

silicone.

Just make sure they're non-toxic formulas.

But, to keep things extra simple, I'm securing mine with a colourful, non-toxic, putty-like

adhesive, known as Blu-Tack.

Carefully roll it up into a long, even strand...

and then, press it down around the edges of your screen.

I'm rolling mine down with my paintbrush to get a nice smooth finish.

I really like this approach, as it makes the removal of the screen, later on, extremely

quick and easy.

As a finishing touch, I like to stick some soft safety pads to the bottom.

Now, everything's pretty much done.

But, there's just one thing missing…the ants!

Now, assuming you've been raising up your colony in a tubs and tubes setup, like I've

been with these guys, all you have to do now, is connect your new nest up to their foraging

area.

Just use a fairly sort section of tubing.

This way, the ants won't have to travel very far to find their new home.

Again, soften the ends in some hot water, and screw them in.

Make sure you've sealed off any extra entrance holes.

I'm using a bit of cotton ball for mine.

Alternatively, you could attach up a water reservoir, like a test tube, half filled with

fresh water and blocked off with some cotton.

This way the ants have an easily accessible source of drinking water, and additionally,

the reservoir keeps up the humidity within the nest, too.

To entice the ants to move in, what you'll want to do, is first, hydrate the nest.

AAC acts like a sponge, water soaks in, and gravity pulls it down, into the base of the material.

The water then evaporates upwards, providing the ants with a slow and steady release of

humidity.

How often, and how much you water, will depend on the particular species you're raising.

Some ants prefer a relatively dry nest, whereas, others, prefer a saturated one.

So, if they don't seem interested at first, play around with the humidity.

I've learned that this Bull Ant and Sugar Ants here, prefer a fairly dry nest.

So, I'm adding in around 4ml of fresh water, and I'll do the same in another 3-4 days

or so.

If you've opted for a simplistic hydration system, one where the water injects directly

into the nest.

Make sure to seal off the holes with a bit of Blu Tac when you're done.

Even if the ants you're housing are too big to be able to fit through them, wild ant

colonies might not be.

So, this will prevent foreign ants from discovering the nest and potentially attacking, and raiding

its inhabitants.

Once your nest has been hydrated, cover it up from light.

A little business, or playing card works nicely.

Now, it's just a matter of waiting.

Sometimes the ants will discover the nest and move in almost straight away, and other

times, they may take days, even weeks.

As I often say, ant keeping requires a good deal of patience.

The key is to continually experiment with the humidly, until you find something that

they really like.

As you can see, my sugar ants here are in desperate need of a new home.

They've outgrown two giant test tubes.

Just look at all that brood!

So, almost as soon as I hooked up the nest, workers came in curiously to inspect the new

space.

And once the word got out to the rest of the colony, instantly they started moving on in.

It wasn't long before all that brood, and the most important member of the colony, the

queen, was relocated.

She seems very relaxed, which is a great sign that she's settled into to her new home.

The Bull ant queen was a little apprehensive with her new nest.

It took her a few days before she was happy with it.

Now, she looks right at home.

She even brought some sand in with her from her foraging area.

If you remember from my "bull ant showcase", we saw that their larvae often required some

form of substrate in order to properly spin their cocoons.

So, now that the ants have moved out of their old nests, unless you have a test tube attached,

it's best keep a tube or two back here.

That way they always have access to water, just in case the new nest dries out.

Visually, this new setup is such a drastic improvement upon their former homes.

Now, you can see almost everything the ants are up to in high clarity.

It's so easy to lose hours just staring away at these little guys.

So, what do you guys think of these little creations?

Not too bad, right?

And all through utilizing cheap and simplistic tools and materials, like c-d cases, screwdrivers

and Blu Tack.

It really is something anyone can do.

And, of course, if you do have access to machinery like powered drills and jigsaws, all the easier.

I always feel a great sense of satisfaction from building my own nests.

It really allows you to get creative, fulfilling both your personal aesthetics needs, and more

importantly, allows you to design something specialised for your ants, and their needs.

Like in my case for example, where I carved out some extra chamber depth to accommodate

for my giant bull ant queen here.

But, of course, I understand, not everyone is the crafty type.

So, that's where we come in.

We build our nests from this same material, AAC, in a range of sizes, to suit virtually

everyone's ant keeping needs.

If you want to know how we make these particular models, check out our store unveiling video

here.

There's definitely many ways to about using this material.

Instead of going for modular designs like these, for example, where the foraging area

connects up to the nest externally, perhaps, you can go for an all in one design.

Where the nesting area sits up vertically within a container, and the foraging area

is positioned on top.

Giving you more of a 3D dimensional design.

We'll be looking at how to build all in ones in my next video, so stay tuned for that!

Now, onto our regular contest.

For this video we'll be giving away 2 of our size 1 ytong nests.

First, to the winners of last videos contest.

Last time I asked you guys, what was the most abundant ant species in your area.

Sadly, in my neighborhood, mostly what I seem to find, are these guys, the highly invasive,

Argentine Ants, Linepithema humile.

They're completely taking over.

A lot of the native ants I used to come across, like Bull Ants, Furnace Ants, and even, the

super abundant, Green-headed ants, are becoming rarer and rarer to find.

So the lucky winner is…Ali, all the way from California, who took some photos of some

Argentine Ants.

Unfortunately, they too have taken over his area.

These ones were farming some sap sucking bugs.

Consuming their honeydew, and standing guard to defend them from predators.

Some great shots Ali!

And now, to winner here on YouTube.

Congratulations to…Ant Noob, who answered Aphaenogaster longiceps, commonly known as

the Funnel Ant, for their habit of constructing steep concave shaped nest entrances.

Perfect for entrapping unwary prey.

We've recently got my hands on some queens of this species.

Very unusual looking things.

I'll be sure to make a video on these guys soon.

For the next videos contest, I want to know what you guys are housing your ants in.

Whether it be in a ytong nest like these ones…acrylic nests…or maybe you've gone with a naturalistic

dirt setup.

And let us know how your ants have settled in to this environment.

If you're not an ant keeper yet, maybe just let us know what your ideal setup would be.

I know when I first learned about ant keeping, my dream, was to have a huge colony living

within a transparent nest, like what I've now got with my Argentine Ants here.

So, same deal as last time.

Post your answers in the comment section below.

And send us a photo of your current nesting arrangement, or perhaps a sketch of your desired

setup, over on Instagram.

Just remember to tag, or include the hashtag #antsaustralia so we can find it.

As always, thanks for watching this video and I hope you enjoyed.