Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes • Hacker News Board

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#21

Post by pkaye » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:55 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #5

This is one of those ideas that sounds genius on its face, until it's actually implemented. Kudzu? Grows fast, prevents erosion, let's pay farmers to till it into the top soil. MTBE? Prevents engine knock, makes for cleaner air, let's mandate its use at the federal level. Whoopsie, once it's in the water we can't get it out, and its a carcinogen. Let's kill all of the mosquitos because we find their presence unpleasa…

Perhaps do a pilot test in a limited area and see the impact?

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#22

Post by jonahrd » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:57 PM UTC

I remember reading some old tale about all the animals gathering to decide what to do about humanity. Every animal hated humans, so they all voted to destroy us. Except the mosquito, which was the only one to stand up for us because they needed food. The moral of the story was that in return for looking out for us, we should let mosquitoes drink what they need from us.

(not my story, I read it in a history book about India)

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#23

Post by andrewfromx » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

watch the will smith movie "I am Legend" where he's the last human alive because scientists made a bold decision like this, then decide if we should do a pre-emptive strike. Or will this be the 12 monkeys (wow, 2nd movie reference) tipping point.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#24

Post by maxerickson » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

canistr wrote: post #10

Wouldn't mosquito predators effectively die off as well? Birds, larger bugs, bats, etc.

Not all mosquitoes bite hoomans.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#25

Post by gsmethells » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

Perhaps mosquitos are here to manage the human population in the ecosystem.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#26

Post by Johnny555 » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

SubZero wrote: post #11

How many bugs and spiders rely on mosquitoes as part of their diet? Out of all of the ideas in this article, not once was the impact to the biological food chain discussed. We can kill all of the little annoying things, but how many beneficial organisms are being supported by them?

Also, Mosquito larvae grow in water and are a source of food for aquatic wildlife.

I seriously doubt that we understand every aquatic ecosystem well enough to know if eliminating mosquitos entirely would be harmful in the long run. And once we eliminate them, there's no going back.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#27

Post by lifeformed » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #5

This is one of those ideas that sounds genius on its face, until it's actually implemented. Kudzu? Grows fast, prevents erosion, let's pay farmers to till it into the top soil. MTBE? Prevents engine knock, makes for cleaner air, let's mandate its use at the federal level. Whoopsie, once it's in the water we can't get it out, and its a carcinogen. Let's kill all of the mosquitos because we find their presence unpleasa…

There will be side effects, but could it really be worse than the alternative? That is, one million deaths per year.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#28

Post by noir_lord » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 5:59 PM UTC

canistr wrote: post #10

Wouldn't mosquito predators effectively die off as well? Birds, larger bugs, bats, etc.

Not necessarily, Mosquito's are not primary prey for any species and the niche they occupy would likely be filled rapidly by similar species that don't tend to spread horrific diseases.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#29

Post by saulrh » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:01 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #5

This is one of those ideas that sounds genius on its face, until it's actually implemented. Kudzu? Grows fast, prevents erosion, let's pay farmers to till it into the top soil. MTBE? Prevents engine knock, makes for cleaner air, let's mandate its use at the federal level. Whoopsie, once it's in the water we can't get it out, and its a carcinogen. Let's kill all of the mosquitos because we find their presence unpleasa…

MBTE is unconfirmed as a carcinogen except at very high doses and can be efficiently and economically removed from water with simple bioreactors. It is better than either lead additive or the health effects of increased pollution from inferior combustion from increased knocking. It is in fact used medically to dissolve gallstones by way of injecting it into the gallbladder. It is not required to be added to gasoline; while there are laws requiring oxygenates to be added, MTBE is not required and there are alternatives. Do your research better.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#30

Post by joekrill » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 6:01 PM UTC

lifeformed wrote: post #27

mikestew wrote: post #5

This is one of those ideas that sounds genius on its face, until it's actually implemented. Kudzu? Grows fast, prevents erosion, let's pay farmers to till it into the top soil. MTBE? Prevents engine knock, makes for cleaner air, let's mandate its use at the federal level. Whoopsie, once it's in the water we can't get it out, and its a carcinogen. Let's kill all of the mosquitos because we find their presence unpleasa…

There will be side effects, but could it really be worse than the alternative? That is, one million deaths per year.

They very well could be. That's just it -- we don't know. And when we kill them all off, are we going to be able to reverse it when we find out that the result is causing two million deaths per year?