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Nuclear Mutant Flies Are Good For Africa?

D\monix writes "According to this article in Reuters, the International Atomic Energy Agency is going to start releasing massive numbers of tsetse flies "sterilized by a burst of radiation" into sub Saharan Africa in order to outnumber and thus eradicate the local fly population. My favorite quote? "The impact of the fly is difficult to exaggerate." You're damn right it is. Anyone else out there think pumping large numbers of mutant insects into the environment might be a bad idea?"

7 of 647 comments (clear)

  1. Spiderman by JohnHegarty · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now .... if one just bites a person....

  2. You bet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They might reproduce and produce more sterile insects!

    1. Re:You bet! by Cruciform · · Score: 3, Funny

      Has anyone looked at using this procedure on talk show guests and politicians? That's Nobel Prize material there.

  3. Re:Not so bad. by nomadic · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can buy a carton of milk and keep it un-opened for 1.5 months

    So can I, and I live in the US.

    Of course, after 2 or 3 days the smell might start getting to me...

  4. Re:Not genetic variants by Syberghost · · Score: 5, Funny

    And sometimes fish are born with 2 heads...

    I believe I can say without fear of contradiction that irradiating these flies will not cause them to give birth to 2-headed fish.

  5. Re:Dont get your ilinformed knickers in a knot. by onion2k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, and so long as they don't have the ability to fly.. no wait.. umm..

  6. Re:Just wanted to correct something... by IronChef · · Score: 4, Funny

    Didn't you see the SNL with Jeff Goldblum that came on shortly after JP came out? After his monologue, he took questions from the audience. People kept asking, "What did they feed the dinosaurs," and he kept trying to tell them that the dinos weren't real. Laura Dern was in the audience too, and she asked, "Jeff, weren't you afraid in that scene where the T-rex chased the jeep?" And he had to give in and say, "Yes Laura, I sure was."

    Clearly it was a huge coverup, but Goldblum cracked under pressure and the truth is out.

    Dinosaurs are real.