Sometimes these things just take time

I had one of those moments of inspiration about my research while in the shower this morning. While in the safety of that little rectangle, it seemed like a brilliant idea. Outside of that little rectangle, it still seems like a good idea, although it will be a lot of work, and really it's not all that earth-shattering.

I didn't even realize that my brain was working on this matter, but here's the matter--I'm trying to understand the relationship between leafcutter ants and the fungus they grow as their major food source. I've got lots of information on the growth of leafcutter ant colonies and their fungus...so why not manipulate the amount of fungus that's present and see what happens? It's actually a pretty straightforward idea, but I don't think anybody has done it before, and it would definitely help me understand the relationship between colony size and fungus size. I'll have to discuss the idea with my adviser, but it feels really good to come up with a new approach. Things had been feeling a bit stale and uninspired.

And now, on with the day.