The Chinese are Destroying Hundreds of Wasp Nest with Flamethrower Drones

Source - A drone has been converted into a flying flamethrower in central China in a fiery campaign to eradicate more than 100 wasp nests.

Blue Sky Rescue, a volunteer group that conducts search and rescue and other emergency work, have teamed up with villagers in Zhong county near the city of Chongqing. 

They raised 80,000 yuan ($12,200) to buy a drone and equip it with a gasoline tank and an arm-length nozzle.

Videos released by Blue Sky show a recent mission by the six-arm drone. It hovers above a hive as large as a suitcase before swooping down. The drone operator flips the ignition switch, and the drone spits bursts of fire onto the hive. ...

Blue Sky said it has destroyed 11 hives so far. There are more than 100 to go. 

If you haven't been convinced before now that China is poised to take over the role as the globe's preeminent superpower, maybe this ought to do it. To me it's only seemed like a matter of time. And after this I'm moving that timeline up by years. 

I'm not saying the technology on display here is what's going to do it. It's impressive, yes. But it's not like they invented the wheel or a plant-based burger that doesn't taste like a drink coaster. What moves the needle for me is the inspiration behind this thing and the willingness to deploy it. 

We have the exact same drone technology the Chinese do. Can you ever, in your wildest fantasies, imagine us deploying them in this manner? To have the level of commitment it takes to send fire breathing killer dragon robots aloft to send these little murder wasp bastards to a hot, incendiary death where they stand? Just the permit process alone would keep this from happening for years if not make impossible. 

We use our drones for Instagram shots, Promvitations and gender reveal parties. They use theirs like Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. And yet we're the ones burning down half our wilderness every time some pair of narcissistic twats wants the world to know whether their genetic coin flip came out heads or tails. 

So yeah, this does it. The Chinese are playing for keeps. While we're standing on the ground with rocks and spray cans of Raid like frigging cavemen, they're taking the fight to the murder wasps with hot flaming jets of pure doom. It starts with the wasps. The murder hornets will be next. Then it's just a question of where we are on their hit list.