• BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one
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    1 month ago

    Mosquitoes have killed more humans than every disease ever (edit: when you obviously exclude malaria) along with every war ever, combined.

    Fuck those little shits. Let them all die, it will literally change nothing on this planet because nothing solely survives off predation on mosquitoes or their larvae.

    • Wild_Mastic@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      If those creatures that also eat mosquitoes cannot eat them anymore, that means they would have to eat other bugs more frequently, and possibly fucking up all the ecosystem.

      That said, fuck mosquitoes, they can take blood from other places.

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        All of our best data on the impact says that it really wouldn’t matter. Sometimes a species is a linchpin for the ecosystem, and sometimes it isn’t.

        Sucks for mosquitoes, but there’s a very real chance that we’ll smallpox them, and the biggest concern will be our confidence that the virus we use doesn’t impact other species unintentionally.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Haven’t read closely on it, but I’ve seen plenty of articles about the lack of effect we’d see over killing off mosquitoes. I have a feeling that, along with what you said, it’s because they’re tiny.

          Consider the dragonfly. They hunt mosquitoes efficiently. But relative to their size, a mosquito is like us eating a candy bar, or even less. Meanwhile, they could snatch about anything else and it would be like a 3-pound steak.

          • Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 month ago

            Now that you say that, average us candy bar contains 200…250 kcal a piece. That’s about 1/7th of BMR of an average healthy male.

      • protist@mander.xyz
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        1 month ago

        They’re largely applying this technique to invasive species of mosquitoes, eg Aedes aegypti, which is a potent vector of disease and native of Africa that has spread worldwide only within the past 200 years

      • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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        1 month ago

        They also eat nectar and are pollinators of various plants.

        There’s no way we could simply remove a creature as numerous and widespread as mosquitoes without any consequences.

      • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        If we were to somehow magically remove mosquitos from existence in an instant, we’d better hope something fills their ecological niche quickly

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Nothing eats them exclusively, that I know of. And they’re tiny. Any insectivore is getting far more nutrition out of about anything else.

          Maybe I’m wrong, but biologists seem to think eradication is a non-issue.

        • smeg@feddit.uk
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          1 month ago

          I think the purpose of the original genetic modification is to make them unable to bite humans (and spread malaria) but to otherwise leave them capable of feeding, thus not wiping them out and upsetting the ecosystem they’re part of

          • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            The niche being food for fish that share their ecosystem in larval stages, and birds/bats/frogs that share their ecosystem in their adult stage.

      • mihor
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        1 month ago

        Found the mosquito.

    • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I understand what you’re saying here, but the set of people killed by “every disease ever” includes the entire set of people killed by mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitoes can’t have killed more people than every disease ever because mosquitoes’ kill count is part of every disease ever.

    • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Mosquitoes have killed more humans than every disease ever

      How do they kill us outside of spreading disease?

  • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    I know it’s not that deep but if you type a whole ass paragraph in all caps I want to beat you with a shoe.

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    This is a crime against nature and god and decency, and mosquitos are probably the only place I’d be absolutely, completely for it.

  • thedeadwalking4242@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Tbh I wouldn’t be sad if we genetically modified mosquitoes to breed them out of existence like we’ve done with screw worm.

    • Yokozuna@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      My only problem with it is the fact that you’re taking a major insect class out of the ecosystem and later on down the line it might have serious implications. There will never be enough research on the effects of it until it’s too late to reverse. I hate mosquitoes (I live in Southern LA.) but I don’t think this is the answer.

      • HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone
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        1 month ago

        I think there was a campaign in china in the mid 20th century that tried to exterminate a bunch of pests like this and it lead to catastrophic famines or something.

        “The Four Evils Campaign” I think it was called.

        • Yokozuna@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Not sure about that, but there was an account of something similar in India, I believe, where there was a chemical agent involved that buzzards were extremely susceptible to and wound up killing off most, if not all of the population. This led to carcasses being left to rot and then became vectors for disease and basically led to a chain reaction of events that caused a few million people to die.

          I don’t know if killing off mosquitos would have quite as a profound effect as this, but there are so many things I feel like we have almost no understanding of when it comes to the natural world to say either way.

          I’ve read in a few comments here that there are studies saying that it wouldn’t have a crazy effect - if anyone could link them so I can give them a read, I would appreciate it.

    • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      I think it’s a genius solution to the explicit problem, but a terrible solution in a larger scope. There are many animals that feed on mosquitos, and they would suffer from massive decreases in mosquito population. This includes birds, frogs, bats, fish, and other insects (many aquatic animals eat mosquito larvae). I would hate to see a cascading reduction in animal populations as a result of these tactics.

      • hydrospanner@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I get the concern, and it’s a good concern to have when you’re talking about what would be such a huge shift in so many ecosystems…

        …buuuuuut…

        I have to believe this change would happen slowly… mosquitoes wouldn’t just go extinct over a holiday weekend. It’d take years, if not decades, of dedication to the eradication strategy and even then, certain populations may prove immune to the best efforts of science.

        That being said, even if it did execute as planned, I feel like the gradual decline of the mosquito would coincide with a gradual increase in other invertebrate species that would fill that niche. So as mosquito populations slowly declined in a local pond or creek, you’d see things like say chironomids (midges) thriving with the reduced competition for habitat, and the fish that ate mosquito larvae replacing that part of their diet with more midges.

        Not saying there couldn’t be other complications, but I don’t think we’d see results fast enough that we’d end up with a broken link of the food chain leading to ecosystem collapse.

      • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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        1 month ago

        The Aedes Aegypt can go fuck itself with all the diseases it spreads to us. Also, anywhere where it showed up as an unwanted guest, like all Americas, nature will just roll back 3 centuries or so.

    • mihor
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      1 month ago
      • What screw worm??
      • Exactly.
  • Smokeydope@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I am a hippy nature person who tries to be merciful and kind to plants or insects. The exceptions are mosquitoes and ticks. Those fuckers want to take my blood and dont settle for one serving if they get the chance. Were in a biological armrace and so far we’ve been loosing. Let’s see how they like being fucked with.

      • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I would take 100 mosquito bites over one tick. One of the only creatures in nature to scare the hell out of me. And I own snakes.

        • Machinist@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Ahh, someone else who views the risks correctly. Spent a lot of time in the swamps in Alabama. Wore snake gaiters for the giant cotton mouths. Soaked my clothes in permethrin. Still way more scared of the ticks than the snakes. Especially that Alphagal stuff.

  • normalexit@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I find the compromise acceptable. Please roll out the mosquito killing technology asap.

  • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 month ago

    I actually love seeing mosquitoes struggle to survive. I don’t care if they’re incapable of morality, they’re evil and I hate them.

  • bad_alloc@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 month ago

    We have suffered for millions of years under mosquitos are they are likely the biggest killer of humans in history. Maybe us evolving big brains and developing genetic engineering is an evolutionary necessity?

    Or as Harbinger said: “We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.”

  • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I mean, have you ever seen a pug? They’re fighting for air their entire life. Or chihuahua’s? Awful personality and bred out of usefulness.

    • cjk@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      Chihuahuas can have a not completely closed cranial bone (is this the right word?), which means if you pet them at the wrong place you literally can touch the brain and potentially kill them. My mood would be bad, too, if this was the case for my body.

      Pugs also can have their eyes popping out if you handle them wrong (e.g. gripping them at their neck).

      The head of King Charles Spaniels are to small, meaning their brain does not have enough room. This can lead to brain fluids getting stuck in the head, which increases pressure on the brain, leading to infathomable headaches, hallucinations, motor deficits, etc, pp.

      Breeding some dog breeds should really be prohibited.

      • Dasus@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        . This can lead to brain fluids getting stuck in the head, which increases pressure on the brain, leading to infathomable headaches, hallucinations, motor deficits, etc, pp.

        Oh man I can never enjoy their derpy look again, knowing it’s because their brain doesn’t have room.

        Breeding some dog breeds should really be prohibited.

        Strong agree. Although there are also breeders doing “healthy” versions of pugs, German sheperds (their hips are awful for them, but the back “sliding down” to low hips was considered an essential characteristic for the race), French bulldogs, etc.

        For pugs they’re calling it “retro pug” and essentially theyre trying to get to what the breeds was before fancy European dog breeders started valuing aesthetics more than say, the dog being able to breathe.

        • BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world
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          1 month ago

          The AKC and other “dog standards” organizations should be labelled as animal abusers for their rigid requirements in dog breeds. If PETA wants to do good in this world, that’s who they should be targeting.

    • amzd@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Or the chickens you eat? They can’t even stand up out of their own feces