The Screwiest—and Perhaps Most Original—Idea of the 20th Century
The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean
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Nippling's Screw Worm Experiment
In 1951, Nippling ran his first real-world experiment with sterile flies on Sanibel Island off Florida. The population sank a little, but it never dropped to zero, despite months of labor. In 1954, an outbreak of screw worms began ravaging the island of Coraçao off Venezuela. Goats there were dropping like, well, flies and the rural population faced starvation.
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