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Government fires thousands of sterilized moths from cannons attached to drones

Government fires thousands of sterilized moths from cannons attached to drones

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Occasionally pink bollworms can feed on cotton in the US, causing agricultural damage. The baby moths are enough of a problem that the USDA has sought an easy and affordable method to protect the crop. The result, reported in the video above, sounds like the plot synopsis of a Rick and Morty episode:

Step 1: Raise pink bollworms.

Step 2: At a young age, feed the impressionable pink bollworms a diet of red dye, giving them a permanent, unnatural color.

Step 3: Blast your red, née, pink bollworms with radiation to the point of sterilization.

Step 4: Release your mutated, red bollworms near the infestation of cotton-eating pink bollworms via cannons attached to aerial drones.

Step 5: Allow the sterile red bollworms to mate with the fertile pink bollworms, tricking the latter into a false state of pregnancy.

Step 6: Wait for an entire generation of childless red and pink bollworms to die off.

Step 7: If necessary, repeat.