Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 August 9

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August 9

Why does a laptop attracts red ants not black ants?

From here, why does a laptop attracts red ants not black ants? I didn't find any useful information here I too faced same problem with that red ants. Rizosome (talk) 14:46, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

That link does not say that red ants are particularly attracted to laptops NOR does it say that black ants are not attracted to them. It is just one person saying that their one laptop had been infested by red ants. It should be noted that there are thousands of different ant species, and some are red and some are black and without knowing which we are talking about, it would be difficult to make any useful statements about why one particular species might infest one particular lap top. --Jayron32 15:16, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

I studied ants at one point. I found that the red ants ate more than the black ants. I could never determine why for sure, but I hypothesized that my experiment had more red ants than black ants. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:03, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

If the laptop owner is from Britain, there are only two species of ant that are widely encountered; the black garden ant (Lasius niger), and the common red ant Myrmica rubra. The 50 or so other species all require specialised habitats and are much less likely to be found - see list of ants of Great Britain. But who knows in this case? Alansplodge (talk) 12:09, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

A strict experimental rubric seems somewhat lacking here. So I suspect the result of this single trial has been hideously inflated! So were these ants in the laptop or in the case!? (could be worse). Martinevans123 (talk) 12:17, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

As far as I can tell (from a quick Google search), its one particular type of ant that likes to nest in computers: the Rasberry crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva). According to this site, its because unlike other ants they don't dig tunnels but rather look for existing holes to nest in. Also, if/when they get electrocuted, they release a chemical that tells the other ants that they have been attacked and need reinforcements - so more ants come, get electrocutes, and summon even more ants. Iapetus (talk) 09:05, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

Wow, they only target laptops that are powered? I'm surprised there is no other ant species that "doesn't dig tunnels". And surprised they go for laptops and not the trendy sweet stuff. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:18, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

Reduced Risk of Reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 After COVID-19 Vaccination — Kentucky, May–June 2021

Can someone please help me to understand this article in layman's terms?[1] It says that unvaccinated COVID survivors are twice as likely to get reinfected than COVID survivors who get vaccinated. But what does "twice as likely" actually mean? If, for example, the reinfection rate of the former is 93% and 96% for the latter, isn't that "twice as likely"? Is it possible to sus out the actual reinfection rates from this article? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:04, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

This is called odds_ratio. Ruslik_Zero 20:34, 10 August 2021 (UTC)