Sex and Death

When the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, it finally brought seafaring commerce from New York and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. It also created a highway for millions of blood-sucking lampreys. The vampiric pests have no predators in the Lakes, so they’re free to latch onto fish with their disgusting circular jaws and carve through their scales with razor sharp tongues, feeding on their blood and juices until the fish die. Ah, nature. Well, scientists from Michigan State University have discovered a way to lure the lampreys to a well-deserved grave. They’ve harnessed the irresistible allure of male lamprey sex pheromones to seduce ovulating females into traps. This is the first time such pheromone-based pest control has worked in anything other than insects. Plus, it will cut down on the $20 million spent annually to control these vicious beasts. And oddly, this is exactly how British spies have been killing foreign terrorists and criminally insane entrepreneurs for years. More details here.