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Comment by nfrankel | Hacker News Reader

> The starfish is recognised as one of three major threats to the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, along with coral bleaching and cyclone damage.

Of course, it's easier to kill something than to tackle global warming...

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Yes, but:

Tackling global warming (or agricultural runoff) takes a bit of time and sometimes seems impossible since some folks seriously resist these things. In the meantime, these killing robots still have their place in helping the reef survive. If you have the means to tackle on of the three major threats now, by all means, please do.

The theory of the starfish population growth is that increased nutrients in the sea from increased land run off is the cause, since it allows more of the baby starfish to survive. So agriculture is probably to blame this time rather than global warming, but the sentiment is the same. Fix the symptoms as it's easier than tackling the cause.

Skynet will eventually recognize humans as a threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

If we build robots that can destroy, those robots will ultimately not be under the control of governments, but instead corporations. Eventually those corporations will wrestle control out of the hands of governments through hard power. There won't be much that can stop them.

Nice try starfish

First they came for the starfish, but I didn't say anything because I was not a starfish.

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