Audio

One of the enduring ideas – and an everyday saying – is that it’s possible to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Of course, it’s physically impossible, but producer Sara Nics thought there had to be a way to do it with some engineering know-how and well-built boots.

I dunno, but it seems kind of extreme, not to mention risky, to bio-engineer a mass mosquito die-off.  So Steve Paulson tracked down the world’s greatest living entomologist to see what he has to say.  E. O Wilson is sometimes called “the ant man” – that’s the insect he studied most – but he’s best known as the evolutionary biologist and a champion of biodiversity.  He’s 86 years old now, and has just finished what is probably his last book – called “Half Earth”.  It’s a passionate plea to save humanity by dedicating half the planet to nature.  You’d assume that Wilson would be happy to let mosquitos live in that half… but that’s not what he told Steve.